The Fox and the Liger
by Saberdragon Entertainment
Summary: While returning from a mission, Naruto and his team meet the mysterious warrior known as Liger. How will this affect the fight to bring back Sasuke? Naruto/Zoids: NCZ crossover. Naru/Saku OC/OC Rated T for violent fight scenes
1. The Wandering Warrior

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 1: The Wandering Warrior - Liger Zero!**

The rain poured down on the roof of the large inn. Inside, men and women, civilians and ninja alike, enjoyed their beverages while speaking about many things from the weather to the ongoing war between the nearby ninja village of Konoha and the Akatsuki, hunters of the mighty tailed beasts.

Three of the Konoha ninjas, who sat at one of the many tables in the inn's bar, were returning to their village from a mission. The first ninja was a tall, well-built man with ocean-blue eyes and wild blond hair. He wore a red, short-sleeved, knee-length jacket with black flames along the bottom. Under that, he wore a long-sleeved, orange and black jacket. He also wore orange pants and black combat boots. Next to him was the only female of the group. She had emerald-green eyes and shoulder-length pink hair. She wore a red, sleeve-less top, tight black shorts, black knee-high heeled sandals, black gloves, pink elbow protectors, and a short pink cloth around her waist. A black kunai holster was strapped to her thigh. Across from them was the oldest member of the group. Only one of his eyes was visible, and its color was white, while his spiky hair was silver in color. He wore a forest green vest with several pockets over a black, short-sleeved shirt, in addition to black pants and black combat boots similar to the blonde's. A black mask covered the bottom of his face. All three of the ninjas wore head bands that had a metal plate attached to them. The silver-haired man's was tilted to cover his left eye. Etched onto the plates was the symbol of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The door to the inn slid open and a man stepped in from the rain. He had short, spiky, bright-blond hair and blood-red eyes. He wore a white duster over a black shirt as well as black pants and white boots. He carried a large, black cargo bag on his back. Strapped to either side of the bag was a long, slender, electric-blue sword. He shook his head like a wet dog and rainwater sprayed from his hair. The man walked over to the desk to speak to the innkeeper.

"Are there any rooms open here?" he asked politely. "I need somewhere to spend the night and I've never been to this area before."

Before the innkeeper could answer, a voice called out to the man from one of the tables: "What are you, some kind of rouge ninja?"

The man turned and looked into a dark corner of the room, making out the shapes of four ninja seated at a table.

"I'm not a ninja." the man said. "And I'm definitely not a rouge one."

The ninja that spoke stood up and stepped into the firelight. He was a tall, stocky man. The katana strapped to his back and the scars that covered his face gave the impression of a fierce warrior.

"If you're not a ninja, then you must be a criminal." the ninja sneered.

"Criminal?" the man asked. "Hardly."

"Then who are you, petty criminal?" the ninja said.

"I don't have to listen to this." the man said as he turned back to the innkeeper. "Now about that room…"

"Don't turn your back on me, criminal!" the ninja shouted angrily.

A collective gasp was heard from several of the civilians. The man turned around and saw that the ninja had drawn his katana and assumed a fighting stance. The pink-haired girl watched, concerned for this stranger's safety.

"Kakashi-sensei, shouldn't we do something?" she whispered to her silver-haired compainion.

"No, stay out of it." He whispered back. "I have a feeling that the man can take care of himself."

"He's right Sakura-chan." the blond told her. "Besides, we don't know what he's capable of yet."

The man turned around, giving his full attention to the ninja that was threatening him. The ninja challenged the stranger: "I won't have a rouge criminal running free in my village!"

"I haven't done anything." the man told him. "You're letting alcohol make rash decisions for you. Now leave me alone before you get hurt."

"You think you can defeat me, the mighty Dokuro Takeshi?" the ninja asked. "I'll kill you before you can even draw your sword."

"Sit back down and have your drink before you embarrass yourself." The stranger told him. He turned back to the innkeeper. "So do you have any rooms or not?"

Dokuro, driven by his fury, charged forward with his blade raised to take out the man, who didn't even turn around.

"Look out!" Sakura shouted in warning.

At the last second, the man turned around and caught the sword mid-strike with his right hand. He brought his other hand up in front of the ninja's face and held it with the back facing the ninja, fingers pointing upwards.

"I told you to leave me alone, but you wouldn't listen." the stranger told him. "Now I have to put you in your place."

He closed his raised hand into a fist and Dokuro braced for the punch. It never came. The stranger instead opened his hand again, but it was different. His fingernails had been replaced with metal tiger claws. The stranger smirked, then slashed across Dokuro's sword with the claws. The sword snapped like a twig. He dropped the sword fragment, then used his now free hand to grap Dokuro around the throat.

"Now let's try this again." he told Dokuro venomously. "Leave me alone, or that will be your head on the floor."

He let Dokuro go and gave him a shove. Dokuro stumbled backwards and then fell. The man turned back to the innkeeper again while the claws returned to normal.

"Sorry about that." he said. "I'll go somewhere else to stay."

He turned around and started walking to the door. Before he got to it though, the blond ninja got up and intercepted him.

"If you need somewhere to stay, you can come with us to our village in the morning." he told the stranger.

Sakura looked horrified.

"What is Naruto thinking?" she asked her teacher.

"I bet that Naruto thinks that that man is a fellow Jinchūriki." Kakashi answered as they got up and went to join the third member of their team. "Besides, it would be better to keep an eye on him, especially if he is in fact a Jinchūriki."

"Thanks kid." the man answered. "What's your name?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." he answered as his companions reached him. "This is my teammate, Sakura Haruno."

"Hello." she greeted.

"And this is our sensei, Kakashi Hatake." Naruto continued.

"Yo." Kakashi said.

"Nice to meet you guys." the stranger said.

"So what's your name?" Sakura asked.

"You can just call me Liger. Liger Zero." the man answered.

"Why don't you come over and sit down with us." Kakashi suggested.

"Okay." Liger replied.

The four of them made their way to the table that Naruto's group had previously occupied. As they sat down, everyone else returned to what they were doing before the incident with Dokuro.

"Do any of you know what that was about?" Liger asked.

"He's a paranoid warrior with a short temper." Kakashi explained. "Alcohol doesn't help though. We here about him occasionally in Konoha because despite his faults, he's a formidable fighter."

"Go figure." Liger responded.

"So what's your story?" Sakura asked their new friend.

"I don't really have one." he responded.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not from around here as I'm sure you heard. I'm just a wandering warrior." Liger explained.

"Where are you from?" Naruto inquired.

"I don't know the region's name." Liger answered. "The Dagan Peninsula was the last place I remember."

"I've never heard of that place, and I've been to all of the Elemental Countries." Kakashi said.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you." Liger said.

"No offense, but what kind of name is Liger?" Sakura questioned.

"Don't ask me, it wasn't my choice." he answered.

"So, what kind of warrior are you?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. One that fights others?" Liger guessed.

"I mean what kind of opponent's do you fight?"

"All kinds. Fast ones. Slow ones. Close-range and long-range. Aerial and underground."

"Aerial and underground?" Sakura aksed.

"Don't ask. It's confusing." Liger told her. "So, what am I going to do in this Konoha, or whatever it's called?"

"That's up to the Hokage." Kakashi told him.

"The who now?" Liger asked confused.

"The Hokage is the leader of our village." Naruto explained.

"Well then, I can't wait to meet him or her." Liger said.

"It's a she." Kakashi informed him. "The Fifth Hokage is Lady Tsunade."

"Right then." Liger said. "Much as I want to stay up chatting, I need some sleep, so I'm going to pester the innkeeper for a room again. See you tomorrow."

With that, Liger got up, picked up his bag, and walked to the counter. After he had left, Sakura turned to her teacher. "What do you think, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I don't know Sakura." Kakashi told her. "I don't know."

**A/N: Okay, time to clear a few things up! First off, I know it's a poor attempt to create a human form for Liger Zero. Oh well. Next, there are a few changes to the Naruto-side of the story (SPOILER ALERT!): #1 Despite taking place after the Invasion of Pain arc, this fanfic ignores Hinata's confession of love for Naruto (I like Sakura better, so this will be a Naruto/Sakura fanfic) #2 I know that Naruto and Kakashi are supposed to be wearing ninja sandals, but I like the idea of combat boots better #3 This is a minor thing, but Naruto doesn't carry around the toad scroll all the time in this story #4 I'm going a different way rather than the 5 Kage Summit arc #5 I'm ignoring Tsunade's coma #6 Kakashi made a quick recovery and finally #7 I'm pretending that Naruto didn't teach Konohamaru the Rasengan (which I think was a mistake). If anyone has a problem, then let me know and I may or may not care depending on the problem.**

**p.s. The mission they're returning from and the inn that they're in will be explained (hopefully)**


	2. Ninja Battle

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 2: Ninja Battle - The Legendary Strike Laser Claw!**

Sakura was the first member of Team 7 to wake up. After taking a shower and getting dressed, she went down the stairs and made her way to the lounge area. When she arrived, she found that Liger was already awake and he was sitting at the same table as the night before. His black bag was on the floor next to him and he was polishing one of the blue swords with a black cloth. The sword's twin lay on the table in front of Liger, already taken care of.

"You're up early." Sakura said as she sat down across from him.

"I could say the same about you." Liger said.

"I always get up this early to train." she explained. "What's your excuse?"

"I usually don't need much sleep," Liger told her, "just about four or five hours to 'recharge'."

"That doesn't seem healthy, but whatever works I guess." Sakura said.

"When can we expect the other two to join us?" Liger asked.

"Maybe a half-hour or so." Sakura said.

"Well then," Liger said, "tell me a little bit about yourself. I'd like to get to know you all a little bit better."

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"Little things, nothing intimate." Liger told her.

"Okay, how about this: I'm a twenty-one year-old medical ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village." Sakura began. "I'm a member of the former Team 7 and part of Konoha's Rookie 9 which is the nickname of my academy class. My best friends are Ino Yamanaka and Naruto. I work hard to be a great kunoichi so that I can protect Konoha and her people."

"That is a worthy goal Miss Haruno." Liger told her. "I wish you the best and if you need any help, I will be happy to provide it."

"What about you?" Sakura questioned. "Tell me about yourself."

"I'm a twenty-six year-old warrior from the Dagan Peninsula." Liger told her. "I'm very fast and very skilled in both close-range and long range combat. My best friend is Bit Cloud. My goal is to be the best warrior that I can be."

"Where is this Bit?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know." Liger told her. "I haven't seen him in over a year."

"I've never seen swords like these before." Sakura told him.

"That's because they're unique." Liger informed her. "I own the only pair. There are similar blades, but mine are the strongest."

"If you don't mind me being a little nosy, what's in that bag?" Sakura inquired.

"I don't mind at all." Liger assured her. "I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to ask. The bag is holding my armor that I wear when my normal skills aren't enough."

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"I'm sure you'll see it soon." he told her.

After a few more minutes spent drinking coffee, Naruto and Kakashi wandered into the room. Seeing Sakura and Liger, they walked over and sat down. After ordering breakfast, Liger asked Kakashi what their agenda was.

"We're a few hours from the village now, so after we eat, we can head off." Kakashi told them.

"So we should arrive around noon?" Liger asked.

"Yes." Kakashi confirmed. "Once we arrive, I'll take you straight to Lady Hokage, where I can turn in my mission report and figure out your situation."

"Mission report?" Liger asked. "What kind of mission?"

"Just delivering a message to the Kazekage." Kakashi told him.

"Who's that?" was Liger's next question.

"He's the leader of the Hidden Sand Village." Naruto answered.

"You needed three ninja to deliver a message?"

"The Kazekage happens to be a close friend of ours, so we wanted to see him." Naruto told him.

"We found this inn on the way back, and since it started raining, we decided to spend the night." Sakura added.

Just then, the waitress brought their breakfast and they started to eat. Half an hour later, they had eaten and checked out. Kakashi lead the way as they walked toward the forest.

"Are we going to walk all the way?" Liger said.

"Do you have a better idea?" Kakashi asked, curious as to what his answer might be.

Liger briefly considered showing them just how fast he could move, but Sakura spoke up before he could say anything.

"What kind of question is that Kakashi?" she questioned. "Of course he has a better idea! We all do. So let's just start tree-running."

"Can you keep up with us?" Naruto asked.

"Tree-running?" Liger asked, confused. "What does that entail?"

"It means we climb a tree and start running through the forest from branch to branch." Sakura explained.

"I'm sure I'll manage." Liger told them while thinking about how well his agility served him in his last fight.

The three ninja ran at the nearest tree and leapt straight up into the branches. Liger was slightly surprised that they could jump so high, but he shrugged it off as he started running at the tree too. Instead of jumping straight into the trees like the others had done, he leapt at the lowest branch and grabbed it with both hands. He then swung on the branch before letting go and launching himself at the branch the others were waiting on. As he landed, he noticed they were staring at him.

"What?" he asked. "Can't I mix things up a little?"

"Show-off." Naruto muttered.

As they started leaping from tree to tree, Liger found that he was having a hard time covering the whole distance and keep up at the same time. Sakura noticed too, and she dropped back so that she was next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Liger assured her, "I'm just fine."

"We can stop if we need to." she told him.

"No," Liger said, "I just need to hit my stride. And I think I know how." he continued as a thought crossed his mind.

As he leapt to the next branch, he changed the angle of his body and landed on the branch on all fours. He began leaping through the trees like a large cat which greatly increased his pace to the point where he was keeping up with the others.

After about an hour, Naruto and Sakura were beginning to feel thirsty. So at the first stream, they asked Kakashi if they could stop and take a break.

"Sure." he responded. "That sounds like a good idea."

They dropped out of the trees and landed by the stream. After drinking their fill, they sat down to rest.

"We're making good time." Kakashi told them. "We should be at the Village in about an hour and a half."

After a few minutes, they stood up to continue. Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound as a hail of senbon needles showered down on them. Kakashi, because of his Sharingan, and Liger, because of his amazing reflexes, were able to dodge the needles. The other two weren't as lucky. Naruto managed to dodge a few, but he was still hit by nearly a dozen needles. Sakura was worse off, having been struck by almost twice as many. As Naruto and Sakura hit the ground, three ninja flew out of the trees. All three of the ninjas were completely clad in black and each one had a sword across their back.

"We got four this time." one of them said to the others. "And one of them is the Copy-Ninja Kakashi. Lord Orochimaru will be pleased."

The three ninjas drew their swords. Kakashi drew a kunai, but Liger placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

"You help the others," Liger said, "I'll handle these three."

"You're pretty cocky, taking on all of us at once." another one of the ninjas said.

"Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it." Liger told them.

He closed his hands into fists, and when they opened, the tiger claws were back.

"I'll show you what happens to those who hurt my friends." Liger said coldly.

He leapt forward at the ninjas before they could react, and by the time they knew what had happened, one of them was on the ground, dead. His head lay a few feet behind him. The ninja that had not yet spoken was the first of the two to attack. He swung his sword at Liger in an attempt to decapitate him. Liger saw it out of the corner of his eye and ducked at the last second. As he ducked, he slashed the ninja across the legs, disabling him. A follow-up strike across the chest as Liger stood, finished the ninja off. During the brief battle, the third ninja had retrieved his previously slain comrade's sword, and he now charged at Liger with the two blades. As Liger turned to face the man, his eyes started to glow a golden color. At the same time, his claws started glowing too. Liger leapt into the air toward the ninja and brought his right hand up like a lion pouncing on its kill. The ninja swung his sword in a vain attempt to kill Liger, but it failed.

"STRIKE LASER CLAW!" Liger shouted.

The claws on his right hand sliced through the sword like a hot knife through butter. Then his hand continued its strike, impaling the man through the chest, killing him instantly. Liger ripped his hand from the ninja's chest as the claws ceased glowing and returned to normal. His eyes stopped glowing at the same time. As the body collapsed, Liger walked back over to the others to check up on his friends. What he saw when he got there surprised him.

Naruto was still lying on the ground, but a blood-red glow had engulfed him. As Liger watched, the needles fell out of his skin and the holes healed instantly.

"What's going on?" he asked Kakashi.

"Let's just say that he has some special powers." Kakashi told him.

Naruto sat up as the glow faded. Upon seeing Kakashi and Liger still standing, concern crossed his face. He started looking around for Sakura and found her lying unconscious nearby.

"Is she okay?" Naruto asked frantically.

"No." Kakashi told him. "Those needles were poisoned. I don't know if she'll survive."

**A/N: In planning the storyline, I decided that I'll divide it into 3 parts. This is Part 1: The Teeth of the Liger. I also changed the chapter title of chapter 1, so that the chapter titles are like Zoids episode titles. And one last thing: I know Sakura's only 15-16 in the manga, but I wanted her and Naruto to be closer to Liger's age, and since this is a fanfic, I can do that.**


	3. Emergency

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 3: Emergency - The Jager Armor!**

"_Those needles were poisoned. I don't know if she'll survive."_

After hearing those words from Kakashi, nothing else registered to Naruto. Not the dampness of the ground he was sitting on, not the wind blowing through the trees, not even the pain that was still left over from the needles. It didn't even occur to him that he wasn't poisoned. All that he thought about was Sakura.

'_She can't die' _Naruto thought to himself. _'I can't let her. It's not fair that I can heal so quickly and she won't even survive. She can't die. She can't!'_

"**Then don't let her die." **he heard suddenly.

If he was anyone else, Naruto would have looked around for a voice. However, he was Naruto and he recognized the power and authority behind that voice. He knew that it belonged to the Nine-Tailed Kyuubi that was sealed inside of him.

'_What do you mean?' _he thought to the fox. _'I don't have that kind of power.'_

"**Foolish human."** The Kyuubi responded. **"You've had that power ever since your wretched father sealed me inside of you."**

'_Then what do I have to do?' _Naruto asked.

"**Give her my chakra." **the Demon-lord told him **"It will neutralize the poison and heal her."**

'_How do I do that?' _was the next question.

"**A chakra transfer you fool!" **the fox told him. **"Allow the chakra to flood her body!"**

'_Why are you helping me?' _Naruto questioned.

"**If she dies, then you will lose the will to fight." **the Kyuubi explained. **"If you do, then we're both dead!"**

The force of that last statement snapped Naruto out of his trance-like state. Liger was standing over him with concern on his face and Kakashi was checking on Sakura.

"She's really weak." Kakashi told them. "I don't think she'll make it."

"Yes she will." Naruto said, surprising the others. He stood up and walked over to Sakura. For the first time ever, he summoned the Kyuubi's power to heal someone. Kakashi grew tense when the red chakra began to flow out of Naruto's body, but this time it was different. Instead of wildly flaring, the chakra enveloped him slowly, but completely. The first tail formed and Naruto hunched over.

"Is this more of the special power you told me about?" Liger asked Kakashi.

"Yes." Kakashi told him. "You'll have to ask Naruto about it later."

Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were the blood-red eyes of the Kyuubi. As Kakashi and Liger watched, Naruto placed his hand on Sakura's forehead. Kakashi moved to stop him, thinking that the chakra would burn Sakura, but then he stopped. For as soon as his hand touched her, the red chakra enveloped Sakura as well. The others watched amazed as the needles fell out of her body and the wounds sealed themselves. Once they were all healed, the red glow faded from both Naruto and Sakura. Naruto's eyes returned to normal as he stood, but Sakura was still unconscious.

"What did you do to her?" Liger asked.

"I healed her, but the poison still took a toll on her chakra." Naruto explained. "She needs to get to the village as soon as possible."

"I'll take her." Liger told them. "I can get her there in about two minutes."

"Impossible." Kakashi said. "The village is still over twenty miles away."

"Watch me." Liger said.

He walked away from Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi so that he had plenty of room. Then he closed his eyes and held his arms out to the sides. He opened his eyes again and they were glowing as before. But this time, they didn't continue to glow golden. Instead they took on an ocean-blue glow which quickly spread to the rest of his body. His bag, which he had dropped on the ground before starting the fight against the ninjas, started to glow the same color. Suddenly, several pieces of glowing armor rocketed out of the top of the bag. Each piece flew to its position on Liger's body and stayed in place. The blue glow faded, and what they saw surprised the two ninja.

Liger was now wearing a full suit of metallic-blue armor. Two pieces joined together to cover his face and neck starting just below the eyes. Two white, blade-like projections stuck out of each piece around the cheekbone area. The shoulder armor covered from the shoulder to the elbow. Part of both pieces stuck up behind Liger like shark fins. Another white blade was positioned about mid-bicep on each arm. Liger had similar armor on his hips. The forearm's armor was a narrow oval shape, like two thin shields on each arm. Again, he had similar armor on his legs, this time on the shins. The armor around all four limbs covered his arms and legs completely in black metal. His torso was covered in a large, black, box-like chest piece. On his back, the armor was also black and box-like except for two large, blue, vent-like structures. The open parts of the vents showed the black insides of the structures. On his hands, Liger wore black gauntlets that ended at his fingertips, which had once again turned into the gold-colored claws.

"Two minutes is plenty of time for my Jager armor." Liger told Kakashi.

He walked over to Sakura and gently picked her up so that he was carrying her bridal-style.

"How do I get to the Village?" Liger asked Kakashi.

"Just follow that path over there." Kakashi told him, pointing to a dirt road. "It leads straight into Konoha. Once there, take her straight to the Hokage tower. It's the tallest building."

"Alright, see you later!" Liger said to them. "Oh, and would you mind bringing my bag?"

Still holding Sakura, he walked over to the path. He shifted his grip on her so that she was held tightly to his chest. Then he started running.

He started out at a reasonable pace, but he didn't stop accelerating. Then, open end of the structure on his back started glowing white. Suddenly, his body seemed to multiply, as his speed increased immensely. A large resounding boom marked his progression to super sonic speeds. Leaves that were ripped off of trees now trailed behind him in a green vortex. Liger shielded Sakura with his arms as best he could to prevent the g-forces from smashing her. The forest flew past in a green blur and a few stray travelers were knocked off of their feet by the blue and pink blur. Within moments, an enormous wall appeared in front of Liger signaling that he was approaching the village. He slowed down to sub-sonic speeds so hat he didn't destroy the place, but he still was traveling at over one-hundred miles per hour as he blew past the guards at the Village gate.

"What was that?" one of the guards asked his co-worker.

"I don't know, but we need to stop it." the other ninja responded.

The two ninjas called in another pair to cover for them, then gave chase. Unfortunately for them, while the ninja asked his partner about the blur, the same blur had reached the Hokage tower.

'_She's probably on the top floor'_ Liger thought to himself as he approached the tower. He jumped a few dozen yards away and his momentum carried him up to a very large window near the top of the tower. Fortunately, the window was open, so he didn't have to break the glass. As he sailed through the window, Liger shut off the booster and he angled his body so that he would land on his back and not on Sakura. He flew over a desk, narrowly missing the blond-haired woman sitting at it, and skidded to a stop on the floor.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" the blond bellowed.

The door to the room flew open and a brown-haired woman dressed in black ninja attire.

"Tsunade-sama, I heard a crash. Are you…alright?" she asked as she saw the two on the floor.

"Man that hurt!" the one in the armor said. "Next time I'm taking the freaking stairs!"

"Who are you?" the blond (Liger assumed it was Tsunade) asked.

Looking at her upside down from the floor, Liger answered her: "I'm a friend of Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. My name is Liger Zero. I met them as they were returning to the village. We were attacked by ninjas and both Sakura and Naruto were hit with poisoned needles of some sort. Naruto healed quickly, but Sakura was on the verge of death. Naruto then healed her with some red light, but he said that she needed to get to the village immediately. So then, I brought her here for treatment. And I think you might want to add deceleration trauma to the list of problems."

"Where are Naruto and Kakashi?" the brunette asked.

"They're still over an hour away. My armor allows me to travel at a very high rate of speed." Liger told them as he stood up, still holding Sakura. He carried her over to a couch that was in the room and placed her upon it. As he stood back up, he detached his armor, which clattered to the floor.

"By the way, who are you?" he asked the brunette.

"My name is Shizune." she answered. "I'm Tsunade-sama's assistant."

"Nice to meet you." Liger told her as he picked Sakura back up. "You can show me where to take her."

"Oh! Right this way!" Shizune told him.

Liger followed Shizune out of the office and down a hallway. She stopped at a door and unlocked it.

"This is a room reserved for emergencies." Shizune told him as she opened the door.

It was a plain white room with wood paneling that went from the floor to halfway up the wall. There was a wide window on the far side. On the left side, there was a bed flanked by two bedside tables. A few chairs were lined up against the wall across from the bed which Liger laid Sakura down on. He then grabbed a chair and sat down after pulling it over to the bedside.

"Lady Tsunade will be here in a moment." Shizune told him. "I'll bring your armor for you."

"Thank you, ma'am." Liger told her.

Shizune quickly turned around and left the room, though not before he caught her blush. As Liger sat next to the unconscious Sakura, he thought about what had happened in the last few hours.

'_Man it's a good thing I met them, or Sakura might have died.' _he thought.

A few minutes later, Tsunade entered the room and closed the door behind her. After checking Sakura's vitals, Tsunade told Liger to wait in the hall while she performed a full examination. As Liger was sitting against the wall, Shizune walked down the hallway carrying a box. Inside was the Jager armor. She handed it to him and sat down next to him as he thanked her. Together they waited to see if Tsunade could heal Sakura. A silent twenty minutes later, the door opened and Tsunade walked out. As he and Shizune stood up, Liger asked about Sakura's condition.

"She's fine, but she'll be out for a few hours." Tsunade told them. "That poison drained her chakra to dangerously low levels."

"I keep hearing that word." Liger said. "What is chakra?"

"I see we have a lot to talk about." Tsunade said. "We'd better return to my office and start talking." she told him as she turned and led the way back down the hall.

"_I have a bad feeling about this." _Liger thought as he followed her.

**A/N: Wow that transformation sequence sucked. Sorry about that. It's hard to describe those blasted armors. If anyone has any trouble picturing the armor, then just go to the Zoids wiki. They have pictures. And I know that the Zero Jager couldn't move that fast, but I figured that since it was an emergency, adrenalin could have helped accelerate him. (Yeah, that makes perfect sense)**

**UPDATE: I want everyone to know that I changed the scene with Kyuubi to make him less emotional and more awesome!**

**UPDATE 2: I changed the 'trapezoids' to vents because it makes more sense.**


	4. Mercenary

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 4: Mercenary - Liger's Deal!**

While Liger was waiting for Tsunade to check on Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were making their way to the village as fast as possible. However, they both had more 'luggage' than they started with. Naruto had volunteered to carry Liger's bag, but now he wished he didn't. Even though the Jager armor had been removed, the bag still weighed over a hundred pounds. As for Kakashi, he decided that they needed to get information about their attackers, so he sealed the three corpses into a scroll which he placed in his bag. In addition to the scroll, Kakashi was also carrying Sakura's bag, which he had taken off of her when he went to check on her.

"Do you think Sakura will be alright?" Naruto asked as they continued through the trees.

"I think so." Kakashi assured him. "Liger seems trustworthy, so I'm sure he was able to get the job done. What concerns me is the men who attacked us. It seemed like they didn't know that Orochimaru is dead."

"How could they not, it's been weeks." Naruto said.

"I don't know, but if there're more of Orochimaru's men that don't know of his death, then they will still try to achieve his goals. In any case, we need to be on our guard." Kakashi answered.

Following the short walk back to her office, Tsunade sat down at her desk and motioned for her guest to sit across from her. Shizune stood nearby, interested in hearing their visitor's story. Before she began, Tsunade took in the man's appearance.

After he detached his armor, Tsunade discovered that the man was about Kakashi's height, but was more muscular. His hair was similar in color to Naruto's, but instead of sticking out wildly, Liger's was spiked straight in the air. His eyes were blood-red, which would give him a very intimidating look Tsunade surmised. Once his armor was off, he was wearing a black tank-top, black cargo pants, and black combat boots. Tsunade noticed the way Shizune kept sneaking glances at Liger, and was confident that her assistant found Liger to be very attractive. Returning to reality, Tsunade began the interview.

"Alright, start from the beginning when you met Kakashi and his team." she said.

"Okay." Liger said. He then told her every detail from the day before to the present. The only thing he omitted was his conversation with Sakura and how he killed the enemy ninjas.

"… and here I am." he concluded.

"So who are you exactly?" Tsunade questioned.

"As I told you, my name is Liger Zero." Liger began. "I know that's a strange name, but I can be a strange person sometimes. I'm from the Dagan peninsula. I'm twenty-six years old and I'm very adept in several types of combat. That's how I was bred, so to speak. Now, though, I'm just a wandering warrior looking for a place to stay."

"Tell me more about that armor you were wearing." she said next.

"The Jager armor is designed for high-speed combat. At maximum efficiency, it allows me to reach speeds in excess of Mach 1. This is made possible by the two ion boosters on the back-plate. The rest of the armor is as streamlined as possible so that even without the boosters, I can still move very fast." Liger explained.

"Okay, I guess that about covers it." Tsunade said.

"Good," Liger told her, "because now it's your turn to explain. What is this 'chakra', why were we attacked, and what was up with Naruto glowing red?"

"Well, I'll answer those questions in reverse." Tsunade began. "First, you'll have to ask Naruto about the red glow, that's only for him to explain. Second, I don't know why you were attacked, that will have to wait until I hear Kakashi's report. Third, chakra is a form of energy that comes from a mix of natural and spiritual energy. It flows throughout the body and, through manipulation, enables seemingly impossible tasks, such as walking on walls."

"Alrighty then." Liger said. "So that red light was chakra?"

"A form of it, yes." Tsunade answered. "Chakra is very important to life. If the body's chakra levels are too low, then that means the levels of the two energies are low as well, and that can be very dangerous or even deadly."

"Everybody has different chakra." Shizune added. "Some people have a lot, like Tsunade-sama and some people have very little, like Rock Lee."

"So how long until Sakura's chakra level is back to normal?" was Liger's next question.

"Probably not until tomorrow." Tsunade informed him. "I just don't understand why her chakra level was so low."

"What do you mean?" Liger asked. "Naruto said it was because of the poison."

"It wasn't the poison." Tsunade said. "I found a small amount of the poison on her clothes and it's not a poison that would drain her chakra that low. It must have been from Naruto healing her."

"Why would that drain her if Naruto was adding chakra?" Shizune asked.

"It's probably do to the nature of the chakra." Tsunade told her.

"Since this is a conversation for the two of you to have at a later time, maybe we could discuss whether or not I can stay." Liger said abruptly.

"Well after saving Sakura's life, I think you've definitely earned the right to stay." Tsunade told him. "But there's two problems. The first problem is about where you should stay. And the second problem is about what you can do for the village. I can't register you as a ninja because you haven't gone through the Academy of any village, have you?"

"Nope." Liger responded.

"And since I can't make you a ninja, I would have to figure out a civilian job for you. The problem with that is I think that is a waste of your talents."

"That would be the case if that is the path that you take." Liger told her. "But I think I have a better idea. Why don't you hire me as a special mercenary?"

"I would need a reason first." Tsunade said.

"What I was thinking is that you could put me in Naruto and Sakura's group,"

"Squad." Shizune interupted.

"Yeah that. You could put me in their squad. That way, they would have three fighters and Sakura as a full-time medic." Liger said.

"Not a bad idea kid." Tsunade told him. "Congratulations, you're now a member of Team 7."

"What about Sai?" Shizune asked.

"He and Tenzo are busy with their own duties." Tsunade informed her. "Now, on to where you'll stay. Do you have any preferences?"

"Ideally I'd like something with a lot of space." Liger told her. "Do you have any empty warehouses or anything like that?"

"I think I know just the place." Tsunade said.

Five minutes later found the three of them walking away from the Hokage tower. Liger had left his armor in Sakura's room so that he didn't have to carry it with him. As they walked through the village, Liger took in the sights. Since he wasn't traveling at high speed, he was able to get a better look at the buildings. It was a fairly old-fashioned village, nothing like the cities he remembered from back home. Several of the villagers smiled and waved at Tsunade and Shizune, but were a little wary of Liger.

"_Seems like they're not exactly welcoming of strangers. Hopefully, I can convince them that I'm friendly." _Liger thought to himself.

After a few minutes of walking through the village, the three of them ended up at the base of a mountain. High above them, Liger noticed five faces carved into the side of the cliff. The one on the far left looked a bit like Tsunade.

Following his gaze, Shizune explained: "Those are the five Hokages."

"The fourth one looks like Naruto." Liger said.

"Very perceptive." Tsunade said. "It's his father."

"They're all dead?" Liger said.

"Unfortunatley, yes." Shizune told him.

Tsunade walked over to the side of the cliff. She placed her hand on the rock and closed her eyes. Suddenly, her hand started glowing green. The glow spread over the rock, taking the shape of a large rectangle. Then the glow faded and the rock seemed to fade with it, revealing the rectangle to be a large metal door with a smaller door ground-level on the right side. Tsunade walked over to the door and twisted a handle upwards. A grinding sound could be heard as the main door began to rise upwards.

"Twist the handle up to open the main door and down for the secondary entrance." Tsunade told him. "There's a button on the doorframe that closes it."

After about ten seconds, the door was finally wide open. Tsunade walked over to the right side just inside the door and flipped a switch on the wall. Instantly, the whole area was illuminated from several rows of lights on the ceiling. The lights revealed a garage-style room with a concrete floor and steel walls. The room itself was empty save for a set of stairs leading 40 feet into the air to a balcony that ran the length of the room along the back wall. There were four doors along the wall on the balcony.

"Is this big enough?" Tsunade asked.

"What are the dimensions?" Liger questioned.

"Length, width, and height are all 60 feet." Shizune told him. "The door is 40 by 40 feet."

"Then yes, this is big enough." Liger said.

Tsunade then pointed to the doors on the balcony.

"The two in the middle are a bathroom on the left and kitchen on the right." she told him. "The other two are empty rooms with walk-in closets. Each room is 14 feet wide, 25 feet long, and 15 feet high."

"Active plumbing?" Liger asked.

"I'll have the maintenance committee turn it on." Shizune told him.

"What about a bed?" Liger asked.

"I'll have some men bring two down, one for each room." Tsunade answered.

"Then this is perfect." Liger told them. "But why are you just giving all of this to me?"

"Don't worry." Tsunade said. "I'm sure I'll find a way for you to pay me back."

"_Uh oh." _Shizune thought to herself.

Just then another ninja, dressed similar to Kakashi, appeared at the door.

"Lady Tsunade! Naruto and Kakshi have returned and are waiting for you at the tower." the ninja told her.

"Very well." Tsunade said. After the ninja disappeared, she turned to Liger. "Guess you underestimated their speed."

"I guess they're really worried about Sakura." Liger said.

"Especially Naruto." Shizune said.

"Shall we head back then?" Tsunade asked.

"Lead the way." Liger told her.

They walked outside, and after Liger closed the door, the three of them left for the Hokage tower.

**A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I was fighting writer's block. I hope the description of Liger's 'home' is descriptive enough. As a note, I made a minor change in Ch. 3, so that Sakura is only going to be out for a few hours, not a few days (that wouldn't fit into the story well, especially the next chapter). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And one last thing, there's a prize for anyone who can pick up on the 2 minor bits of foreshadowing in this chapter (and there not about Liger paying Tsunade back). The prize will be revealed to the winners immediatley, and to everyone else when the time is right. **

**UPDATE: Both prizes have been won! Check the reviews to see spottedstar2 and omnitrixfreak's winning guesses! However, if you find something else, send me a PM and I'll see about a prize for you too! **


	5. Awakening

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 5: Awakening - Love in the Leaf!**

It had been two hours since Liger had brought Sakura back to the Village and Tsunade healed her. Naruto and Liger had been sitting in the room with Sakura for all but a half an hour, while Liger had been talking to Tsunade and Naruto was still on the way back. Neither said anything, using the silence to think their own thoughts, waiting for Sakura to wake up. Kakashi was still going over the mission and the attack with Tsunade in her office and Shizune had disappeared on a few errands shortly after Naruto and Kakashi returned.

Liger was sitting to the left of Sakura's bed, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He could have passed for being asleep, but in reality, he was as alert as ever. However, he did empty his mind to prevent a headache from processing all of the new information he had learned that day. When Liger and Naruto had come into the room, Liger had placed his black bag on another chair after returning the Jager armor to it without Naruto seeing. Liger was now wearing his white jacket and white boots again as he struggled to stay awake.

To the right of Sakura's bed, Naruto sat. Unlike Liger, his attention was on Sakura only; nothing else mattered to him at the moment. He was eager for her to wake, so that he was sure that she was okay. It was almost as if he was trying to will her to wake up. To the fox's credit, he had the decency to leave the concerned Naruto alone, however he was still trying to figure something out.

"_**Why is the girl still unconscious?" **_he wondered to himself. _**"My chakra should have healed and revived her immediately. Something went wrong." **_

"You love her, don't you?" Liger suddenly asked without opening his eyes.

"What?" Naruto asked, surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah, very original response." Liger told him. "That just proves it."

"It doesn't prove anything." Naruto replied, getting defensive.

"You don't have to be ashamed of it." Liger said. "I think that it's awesome that you're in love. But you should tell her."

"Is it that obvious?" Naruto asked.

"Well, when you've spent the last hour and a half staring at her – yes, yes it is that obvious." Liger answered. "That and you were quick to panic when Kakashi told you she was in danger."

"Maybe you're right," Naruto admitted, "maybe I should tell Sakura-chan that I love her."

"Aw, that's sweet Naruto-kun."

Naruto nearly jumped upon hearing Sakura's voice. Liger, for his part, kept his composure as he opened his eyes and allowed his chair to return to all four legs.

Sakura had been just waking up when Liger started the conversation. However, she decided that she would pretend that she was still asleep while she waited for Naruto's answer.

"_Naruto loves me?_" she thought to herself. "_I thought it was just a crush. And I've been such a jerk to him over the years. And if what Liger said is true, then I owe my life to that knuckle-head._"

"Are you okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"Yeah, you had us worried." Liger added.

"I feel weak, but I'll be fine." Sakura told them. "Where are we?"

"A room right down the hall from Tsunade's office. In fact, I'll go tell her and Kakashi that you're awake." Liger said. "_And give you two some alone time._" He added to himself.

With that, he got up, grabbed his bag, and left the room, closing the door behind him. He made the short walk to Tsunade's office and knocked on the closed door.

"Come in." he heard Tsunade say.

He opened the door and entered the room, pulling the door shut again as he did so. He noticed that Kakashi was still seated across from Tsunade, discussing his report.

"I came to tell you that Sakura is awake." Liger told them.

"Excellent." Tsunade said as she and Kakashi stood. "Let's go see her."

"Not just yet." Liger told her. "Let's wait for them to come to us."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked.

"Let's just say that they needed some alone time. I think he finally might tell her." Liger said.

"Really?" Tsunade said. "It's about time. In that case, we'll stay here for a bit longer. Kakashi can fill you in on the details of the ninja corps."

"This is a lot more awkward than I imagined it would be." Naruto said after the door was closed. "But now you know."

"So, you're in love with me?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." Naruto answered. "I have been for quite some time, but I didn't have the courage to tell you."

"Why not?" she asked. "Were you afraid of me?"

"No, but I figured you didn't feel the same way." he told her.

"_Maybe I should give him a chance._" Sakura thought. "_He _is _a great friend after all. And he's a lot more cheerful and outgoing than Sasuke. Plus, he's willing to go to great lengths for me. And he really cares about my well-being. I don't know how he saved my life, but he did it without hesitation._"

"Well, you figured wrong." she said as she sat up and kissed him.

Fireworks went off inside Naruto after he realized that Sakura, the love of his life, was kissing him. And she loved him! As the two broke apart, Naruto had a dazed look on is face that caused Sakura to giggle.

"Suck it up, Naruto-kun." she said to him. "I can't believe that the ninja who defeated Pain can be disabled by a simple kiss!"

Naruto shook his head as he returned to reality.

"It's not that," Naruto told her, "it's just that I'm surprised that you love me."

"What surprises me is that Liger was the one who finally gave you the courage to tell me." Sakura responded. "Did you ever tell anyone else?"

"Nope." he answered. "I figured that it was kind of a personal thing."

"Advice isn't necessarily personal, Naruto." she said. "I'm sorry. I sound like your mother or something."

"It's okay." Naruto said.

"So," Sakura began, changing the subject, "since you love me, and I love you, then the next thing is a date, right?"

"I guess so." Naruto said, chuckling. "What do you have in mind?"

"How about we go for a walk for now? I don't know if I can handle anything else right now." she suggested.

"Are you sure you're strong enough to get up?" Naruto asked.

"Amazingly, yes." Sakura answered. "Cheesy as it is, the truth of the matter is that I've been getting stronger as we talked. Almost like being around you is giving me energy."

"Whatever the cause, you're ready, and I'm sure you don't like being the patient instead of the medic." he told her.

"You're right. Let's go." she said.

Naruto helped her to her feet and they walked out of the room, holding hands. Before leaving the building, they decided to let Tsunade, Kakashi, and Liger know what they were doing. As they stood outside Tsunade's office, Naruto knocked on the door and then turned to Sakura.

"How do you think Kakashi and Tsunade will react?" he asked her.

"I'm sure Liger told them about his hunch." she answered. "I doubt that he just went to tell them that I was awake."

"Come in." they heard Tsunade beckon.

"Let's find out." Naruto said.

He pushed open the door and walked in with Sakura close behind him. Their hands were still grasped. Tsunade watched them with a grin while Kakashi and Liger turned around in their seats to face Naruto and Sakura.

"That was quick." Tsunade commented.

"So you know then?" Sakura questioned.

"Of course." Tsunade responded. "I had a feeling that this was going to happen, and after Liger told us what was going on, I knew that I was right."

"So it's officially out in the open?" Kakashi asked.

"Yep." Naruto said with a smile.

Deciding that they didn't have to hold hands forever, Naruto and Sakura broke contact and sat down on the couch that was against the wall.

"So as I was saying," Kakashi said to Liger turning back to a paper on the desk. "There are five main ranks of ninja. The first is a Genin, which is the lowest rank of ninja. All Academy graduates start out as Genin. Despite his amazing abilities, Naruto never passed the test to advance to the next rank: a Chunin. You have to pass the Chunin Exams to be promoted like Sakura. The Chunin is a journeyman ninja, in between a Genin and a squad leader, which is a Jonin. I myself am a Jonin. There are also Special Jonin, who become Jonin because they excel in a particular area. After Jonin, the next rank is ANBU Black Ops. The ANBU is like a military police force. They also take on special missions such as escort or assassination missions. The final, highest rank is the Kage. The Kage is the leader of a ninja village, and because of this, the Kage are usually the strongest ninja in the village. There are five Kages: the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village - which is Tsunade right now - , the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village, the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, and finally, the Tsuchikage of the Hidden Rock Village."

"That's a lot to remember." Liger said.

"Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it." Tsunade told him.

Just then the door opened about half-way and Shizune leaned in.

"Naruto, Sakura, could you come here for a moment?" she asked.

The two got up and followed Shizune out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Liger asked turning to Tsunade.

"Oh, nothing." Tsunade said. "Naruto had asked about getting some work done to their training ground, so I had Shizune find some information for him."

"Right then," Liger said. "Now about my job, do I have to wear a special uniform or something?"

"I don't think that's necessary." she told him. She opened a drawer in her desk and withdrew a triangular patch and a small blue bag. She handed them to Liger who gave her a puzzled look.

"Some money to get you started. As for the patch, since you're not a ninja, I can't give you a forehead protector. Just put this patch on the shoulder of your jacket. It will serve as your badge of office." she explained.

Liger pocketed the bag and then looked over the patch. It was a black triangle with a blue border. In the center was the spiral that Liger now knew to be the symbol of Konoha. It was blue as well.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade." he told her. "And thank you for the explanation, Kakashi."

"No problem." Kakashi responded. "I'm looking forward to having you on the team."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to explore my new residence." Liger said as he stood.

He walked over to the door and opened it, giving Tsunade and Kakashi a wave as he left the room, closing the door as he went. He looked up and down the hallway, but Naruto, Sakura, and Shizune were nowhere to be seen.

"_Probably went to the training ground Tsunade mentioned._" he thought to himself.

He made his way out of the building and began walking through the village toward his home. He stopped at a junk store and picked up a needle and a spool of black thread with some of the money that Tsunade had given him. Now as he walked, he took of his jacket and began to sew on the patch. He thought about what he had agreed to in order to earn the patch.

"_Mercenary? What was I thinking? I have no idea what these people are capable of. Oh well, now I'm stuck with it. Maybe I'll train with Naruto or Sakura so I can know what to expect if I get into a fight. I can't predict anyone's next move if I don't know what that move could do to me._"

He was broken out of his thoughts when he reached his door. He reached out and gave the handle an upwards twist, deciding that the place was probably musty from disuse and could use an airing out. When the door was fully open, he stepped inside to turn on the light. When he did, he found that the room was full of people!

"WELCOME TO KONOHA!" they chorused.

"What the…" Liger began, but he was interrupted when Naruto and Sakura walked up to him.

"Since you saved our lives, we figured that the least we could do was give you a proper welcome!" Naruto explained.

"And introduce you to some of our fellow ninja!" Sakura added.

"Wow, thanks!" he told them.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your hot friend?" a girl asked.

"Easy Ino, he just got to the village." one of the boys told her as he walked over. "Give the poor guy a chance to get used to us before you start flirting with him.

"Of course I will! Cut me some slack." the girl said to the boy. Turning back to Liger, she introduced herself. "My name's Ino Yamanaka, the Blonde Bombshell!"

"Sorry about her, she's attracted to every guy she meets." the boy said. "I'm Shikamaru Nara by the way." He held out his hand and Liger shook it as another male ninja walked up to them.

"And I'm Choji Akimichi!" the boy said.

"Ino, Choji, and I make up Team 10." Shikamaru said. "Glad to welcome another member of our village."

"Why are you so cheerful Shikamaru?" Naruto asked. "I figured you'd be sleeping or complaining about not sleeping."

"He won a Shogi tournament today." Ino explained. "He's been like this ever since."

Team 10 stood off to the side as four more ninja walked up to Liger. It was another three-man squad, but this one had a Jonin with them, Liger assumed.

"We're Team 8." The eldest female introduced. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi. I'm Team 8's Jonin leader. These are my students: Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga." she explained, gesturing to each of the three ninjas with her.

Shino seemed to be a very secluded person, as opposed to Kiba who seemed like Naruto. As for Hinata, she looked very timid and shy to Liger. Finally, the last four ninjas walked over when Team 8 stepped out of the way.

"We're Team Guy!" the first boy said excitedly. He had a green Chunin vest over a green jumpsuit. The Jonin was dressed nearly identically.

"My name is Rock Lee!" the boy introduced. "I'm very happy to meet you!"

"Calm down Lee," the other boy said, "you're going to drive the guy crazy." Turning to Liger, he introduced himself. "I'm Neji Hyuga."

"And I'm Might Guy!" the Jonin told Liger. "I'm the leader of Team Guy!"

The fourth and only female member of the team wasn't really paying attention to anyone else. She was busy staring at the blades on Liger's bag. Seeing her gaze, Liger reached over his shoulder and drew one of the blades. Out of curiosity, he moved the blade in several different directions. As he suspected, her eyes never ceased to stay locked on to the blade. His experiment done, he tossed her the blade, which she caught eagerly.

"Try not to kill any one Miss." he told her. That seemed to snap her out of her daze.

"Oh, sorry." she said. "I'm Tenten! These blades are amazing! So strong, yet so light; and they're perfectly balanced too!"

"Tenten is Konoha's weapons mistress. She's the best with a blade." Sakura explained.

"So, handsome, what's your name?" Ino asked.

"Oh, right!" Liger said, forgetting that he didn't introduce himself. "I'm Liger, Konoha's new mercenary warrior!"

"Mercenary, huh?" Neji asked. "I hope you're tough enough to keep up."

"Well, not to brag, but I'm a weapons master myself." Liger said.

"Really?" Tenten said, with a sudden competitive look in her eyes. "Care to show us?"

She tossed the blade back to Liger.

"What, fight?" Liger asked, confused. "With one of you guys?"

"Not just one of us." Tenten told him. "I want you to fight me."

She reached behind her back and withdrew a pair of tantōs.

"I don't want to hurt you Tenten." Liger told her as he set his bag down.

"Don't worry about me." she said.

Tenten kneeled on both knees and held the tantōs in front of her in an 'x' shape with the blade tips pointing at the ground.

"**Art of the Warrior: Dual Blade Armor**!" she called out.

A cloud of smoke sprang up, enveloping Tenten. When it cleared, she was covered in silver Samurai armor from the neck down; she wore no helmet.

"I can protect myself." Tenten told Liger.

"Armor, huh?" Liger commented. "Then I won't have an unfair advantage if I do this:"

Liger's eyes began to glow golden as he held his arms out to the sides. Everyone except Naruto and Sakura took a few steps back, unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, the glow in Liger's eyes changed to a fiery orange color which slowly spread to the rest of his body.

**A/N: Woo! Cliffhanger! (**_**sorry!)**_** Anyway, I hope that was a good addition to the story. I also hope that was an effective way of introducing the Naruto/Sakura pairing. In case you haven't already guessed, I'm not very "romantic". What can I say, I'm a guy. Thanks for all of the reviews and support! In closing, may your squirrels stay caffeinated and your goats stay hyper! Here is this chapter's original jutsu:**

**[Name - Type - User(s) - Description]**

**Art of the Warrior: Dual Blade Armor**** – Ninjutsu – Tenten – Similar to the summoning jutsu, this technique allows the user to don a special samurai armor by channeling chakra into a pair of special ****tantōs**


	6. Arms Dance

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 6: Arms Dance - The Schneider Armor!**

Recap: _Liger's eyes began to glow golden as he held his arms out to the sides. Everyone except Naruto and Sakura took a few steps back, unsure of what was happening. Suddenly, the glow in Liger's eyes changed to a fiery orange color which slowly spread to the rest of his body._

"What's going on?" Ino asked.

"He's arming himself." Naruto told her.

"With what?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know." Naruto responded. "He glowed blue the last time."

"This happened before?" Kiba questioned.

"Yes. That's how he got Sakura to the village in a few minutes, even though we were still miles away." Naruto explained.

Liger's bag started to glow the same shade of orange, further surprising everyone. Sakura, having been told by Naruto, understood that it was how Liger donned his armor in the middle of a fight. Suddenly, the armor rocketed out of the bag and equipped to Liger, followed by the two swords which he caught somehow. Once each piece was in place, the glow faded. Once again, everyone but Naruto and Sakura was shocked by what happened.

Liger was wearing a suit of metallic orange armor. Like his Jager armor, only the bottom half of his face was protected. Two orange fins projected from his cheeks. Two blades, similar to the swords he now held, were folded backwards along the sides of his head. A third blade stuck up from behind his head like a horn. His shoulders were covered by orange boxes with what looked like grey vents on the front and outer side. The bottoms of the boxes curved with his arm, protecting all the way down to his elbows. Similar boxes protected his hips. On his forearms and shins were pieces of armor that wrapped around three sides. In addition to the armor on his forearms, there were also blue blades folded back along his arms that were ready to swing forward for battle. Everywhere on his torso and limbs that wasn't covered by orange armor was encased in black armor. On Liger's back were two vents. Unlike the Jager armor, these two vents were much smaller. Once again, Liger's fingers were tipped with the golden metal claws.

"Let's see how well you fight against my Schneider Armor." Liger told Tenten.

"I'm looking forward to this fight." Tenten responded.

"Why don't we move to the balcony to watch?" Sakura suggested.

"Good idea Sakura." someone said.

They all looked toward the door for the source of the voice. It turned out to be Tsunade, who was standing with Kakashi, Shizune, Gaara, and Kankuro in the doorway. They had apparently arrived while everyone was watching Liger.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran over to greet his friend.

"Hello again Naruto." Gaara responded.

"We just left Suna three days ago. How come you followed us?" Naruto asked.

"That can wait. I believe we just interrupted a demonstration of your new mercenary's abilities that I think we would very much like to see." Gaara told him.

"This ought to be good." Kankuro commented as everyone but Liger and Tenten moved to the balcony.

"It looks like we have an international audience." Tenten said.

"The more the merrier." Liger responded.

Liger and Tenten moved away from each other toward their respective walls.

"This is an exhibition match between Tenten and Liger Zero." Tsunade announced, taking on the role of judge. "The match will end when one contestant yields or is declared defeated. Ready, fight!"

Tenten began by immediately rushing Liger.

"_The direct approach?_" he thought to himself. "_That's a_ _simple, yet effective way to judge one's opponent."_

At the last second before Tenten's blades struck, Liger brought his blades up to intercept them. Tenten had been expecting this however, and she used her momentum to somersault over his head to strike at his back. As she landed, she swung her swords together, one from each side. However, Liger wasn't about to let her get the first hit. He spun in a circle with his blades vertical, effectively deflecting her strikes with his right blade. Then switching to the offensive, he followed through with a slash from his left blade. Fortunately for Tenten, her armor stopped his blade from doing any real damage. The armor didn't come away unscathed, however. There was a deep gash in the armor from where Liger's blade struck.

"Sorry about that." Liger apologized.

"It's fine." Tenten assured him. "I wasn't expecting that counter."

"Ready for Round 2?" he asked her.

"Of course." she said with a smirk.

She jumped away from him just in time, for at that moment his right blade came up in a back-slash. This time, Liger was the one who gave chase, running after her as she did a series of back-flips to gain more distance.

"Those two are really going at it." Ino commented.

"And they're both holding back." Neji added.

Everyone turned to look at him as he continued to study the combatants.

"What do you mean Neji?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, Tenten is only using her most basic forms of blade combat." Neji explained. "She hasn't started her advanced maneuvers yet."

"And Liger?" Kakashi inquired.

"He could have defeated Tenten with his counter strike. If he had followed his right blade with his left blade, he could have used that slash on the hilts of Tenten's blades. That would have ripped both of them out of her hands." Neji continued.

"They're both just warming up." Shikamaru observed.

"Yes, it appears so." Neji confirmed.

"You guys catch on quick." Liger yelled over his shoulder.

"Shall we kick it up a few notches for them?" Tenten asked.

"Why not?" Liger answered.

They charged at each other and, true to their word, they let loose with everything they had. The four blades seemed to dance through the air as Liger and Tenten rapidly slashed at each other, trying to gain an advantage over the other. Each strike was met by an opposing one, the blades moving so fast that they became a blur. Liger and Tenten moved all over the area, each trying to shift the momentum in their favor. Neji, who was used to following high-speed actions, was having a hard time keeping up with the two warriors. Not even Kakashi's Sharingan was able to keep up; with it activated, he still only saw the blades at about three-quarters speed.

"Now they're going at it." Sakura told Ino.

"This was definitely worth it, Gaara." Kankuro said to his brother.

"Yes, Kankuro." Gaara agreed. "I was not expecting such an impressive display."

Finally, the two broke apart, each panting as they stayed alert for the next attack.

"Not bad." Liger said.

"Not bad, yourself." Tenten replied. "But you're still holding back."

"Only because I don't want to break your blades." he told her.

"I'd like to see you try." she said.

"Alright, but I'm not replacing them."

He held the blades out to the sides and Tenten readied herself to start again. But she was caught off-guard when the blades started to glow bright blue. Then, almost faster than she could see, Liger rushed at Tenten. She quickly raised her blades to intercept Liger's as he approached.

"BUSTER SLASH!" Liger shouted as he brought the blades down on Tenten's.

Her blades held for half a second before snapping in two from the force of the attack. The remaining force traveled up Tenten's arms and she was sent flying backwards towards the wall. Dropping his blades, Liger activated his booster and shot after her. He grabbed onto her and held her in front of his body as he turned his back to the wall. With a resounding boom, the two of them slammed into the wall. Liger let go of Tenten as their audience dropped down from the balcony to check on their friends.

"Twice in one day?" Liger groaned. "I must be out of my mind!"

He stepped away from the wall and detached the Schneider armor as Tenten's armor disappeared in another cloud of smoke. As the pieces hit the ground, they started glowing orange again, before flying back into his bag. He was once again wearing his black tank-top, pants, and boots as Ino ran over to "check" on him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." he told her. "Don't get any ideas though."

"What ever do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Oh yeah, that's right. They _always _deny it." Liger groaned again.

"I honestly don't know _what_ you're talking about." she told him, continuing to play dumb.

"_Man, she's acting like that Chris Tasker girl the last time I saw her._"

"Ino, stop harassing the poor guy." Sakura admonished.

"Stay out of this Sakura." Ino told her venomously. "You just want me out of the way so you can have him for yourself."

"Don't flatter yourself Ino." Sakura countered. "Besides, I'm already spoken for."

This really caught Ino off guard, as evidenced by the fact that the blonde was now giving Sakura a confused look.

"_So much for waiting for the right moment._" Naruto thought to himself.

"Really?" Ino inquired. "Who might I ask?"

"Naruto." Sakura replied.

"_This can't end well._" Kakashi thought to himself.

Maybe for the first time ever, Ino was completely speechless. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again.

"What's the matter, Ino?" Sakura teased. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Easy with the cat jokes; I'm named after one, remember?" Liger said.

By this time, everyone else realized what Sakura had just said. The only ones not really affected were Tsunade, Kakashi, and Liger.

"_And now the interrogation begins._" Tsunade thought.

"Since when?" was the first question. Surprisingly, it came from Shikamaru.

"Since about half and hour ago." Naruto answered.

"Are you guys going out yet?" Kiba asked.

"Later tonight is our first date." Sakura said,

"What are you guys doing?" Ino finally managed.

"While this is all very interesting," Liger interrupted, "I'm sure there are a few things Naruto and Sakura would like to keep private."

Ino turned to glare at Liger for interrupting her, but he ignored it as he walked back over to his bag, picking up his blades along the way.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to drop of my bag and we can all go get something to eat."

With that, he carried his bag up the steps, leaving a slightly irked Ino continuing to glare at him. After dropping of his bag, Liger reemerged wearing his normal white jacket and boots.

"So, you guys are the locals," he began, "where can we get something to eat?"

"There's a nice café about two blocks from here." Shizune told him. "It has an all you can eat buffet."

"Then away we go." Liger said.

Everyone followed Shizune out of Liger's warehouse and they waited as he shut the door behind them. As they walked down the street, Liger listened in on some of the side conversations everyone was having. Choji, Lee, and Naruto were talking about how hungry they were; Kiba and Shino were talking about something involving fleas; Neji was discussing the fight with Shikamaru; and Ino and Tenten were talking to Sakura about her new relationship status. Gaara and Kankuro were the only ones that were silent, after introducing themselves to Liger, who was surprised that Gaara was the Kazekage. As for Tsunade, Kurenai, Kakashi, and Gai, they were talking about the upcoming graduation exams at the academy, while Shizune was having a hard time focusing on talking to Hinata instead of glancing over at Kakashi. Liger took notice of this and moved over so he was walking next to her and Hinata.

"You people aren't very subtle about your attractions." he said low enough to keep the conversation between the two of them.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she loudly whispered back.

"_I'm noticing a pattern of denial from these people too._" he thought to himself.

"I'm not attracted to him at all." Shizune continued denying.

"Say something to him." Liger encouraged.

"No way!" she responded. "There's no way he'll feel the same way."

"I heard there was no way Sakura would be in love with Naruto, but she is. Just give it a shot; I think you'll be surprised."

"Fine, I'll say something while we're eating." Shizune said, admitting defeat.

"That's the spirit!" Liger told her. Then he noticed that Hinata was looking somewhat depressed when Liger began talking to Shizune about the latter's crush on Kakashi.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" he asked her.

"Nothing." she answered, glancing at Naruto and Sakura, who were staying next to each other while talking to their friends. "I guess I should have expected this to happen."

"You had a crush on Naruto?" Liger guessed.

"Yes, but I couldn't say anything to him." she explained. "And now it's too late. But I am happy for them."

"Don't worry about it!" Liger told her to try to cheer her up. "I think that Kiba might feel the same way about you."

"Really?" Hinata asked. She hadn't thought of it like that.

"Yeah, he keeps looking at you." he explained. "Just like how this one can't stop looking over at Kakashi." he said, gesturing to Shizune.

"Leave me out of this!" Shizune told him. "You're the one playing match-maker. I don't want any part of it."

After a few more minutes, the group arrived at the café/buffet. Ten minutes later, they were all seated and beginning to dig in. That was when they got their first look at how much Liger could eat when he was really hungry. By the time they were done, Choji and Naruto, the biggest eaters in the group, had put away a half-dozen plates each. Liger however, had put away a dozen by himself.

"Man, you can eat." Shikamaru commented.

"What?" Liger questioned. "I was really hungry; breakfast was twelve hours ago."

"And I thought Choji and Naruto were big eaters." Kurenai said.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Liger saw that Kiba had offered to walk Hinata home. The two had gotten to talking during the dinner and had hit it off immediately. Shizune and Kakashi, meanwhile, had decided to continue the evening at a tavern. She had listened to Liger's advice and, to her surprise, Kakashi took an interest in her.

"Hey Liger." Naruto greeted while coming up to him with Sakura as everyone else went their separated ways.

"What's up?" Liger inquired.

"We wanted to let you know that we have a training session tomorrow afternoon. Kakashi-sensei mentioned you wanted to come to one."

"That sounds awesome." Liger told them.

"We'll meet you at the Hokage Tower at 3 o'clock." Sakura said.

"Alright, see you then."

Then they parted ways. Liger went home to see if Tsunade had gotten him his bed yet and Naruto took Sakura on the walk he had promised her.

**A/N: Another bang-up armor description. I need to work on that for the big one. On another note, don't get too excited. I only updated this fast because I didn't want to leave you guys with a cliffhanger. And I know I don't usually say this, but please let me know what you think. See you later!**


	7. Training

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 7: Training – Perfect Memory!**

After walking through one of Konoha's parks, Naruto and Sakura journeyed to the top of the Hokage monument. Sakura had always liked this place; it was serene and calming. Naruto gained even more respect for the place upon finding out that his father's face was one of those memorialized on the stone they now lay upon. It seemed a perfect place to end their first date. The two ninjas were currently lying on their backs, watching the stars together.

"Man this has been an awesome couple of days!" Naruto said with his usual enthusiasm.

"I almost don't believe it's real." Sakura agreed.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto began to say, rolling to his side to look at her, "are you sure you want to train tomorrow; so soon after your injury?"

She reflected his movement so that she was looking him in the eye as she said, "I'll be fine Naruto-kun. That's one of the reasons I want to train; so that I can get my strength back faster. There is something else though."

"What is it?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"I was wondering if you would help me learn some new techniques, so that I can attack in several different ways. Also, it would help to make me stronger so I can help you bring Sasuke back." Sakura told him.

"Sure thing Sakura-chan." Naruto told her. "It'll be training for all three of us!"

"That reminds me." Sakura said. "Where do you think Liger gets his powers from?"

"I'm sure he'll tell us when he wants us to know." Naruto told her.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto arrived at the Hokage tower and found Liger sitting against the base of the building. He sat down next to Liger, and five minutes later, Sakura showed up.

"Ready to go?" she asked the boys upon her arrival.

"You bet!" Naruto said as he jumped up.

"I'm always ready!" Liger said as he joined them.

Liger and Sakura followed Naruto as he led the way to the training ground. When they got there, Liger immediately understood why it was a good training ground; several environments were represented. There was a wide-open, grassy area, a medium-sized stream leading to a large pond, and a small forest. Three logs were vertically planted in the ground to serve as targets.

"So what do you hope to accomplish today?" Sakura asked Liger.

"Well, as I understand it, there are twelve hand seals used for Ninjutsu, right?" he began.

"That's right." Naruto answered.

"Why don't you guys show me those first, then use some techniques that require hand seals while you train with each other." Liger finished.

"Are you going to be able to remember all of that?" Sakura asked.

"Yep. I have a perfect memory." Liger told her.

"Wow." she responded. "That must be cool."

"It can be a pain though. There are some things that I want to forget." he said while blushing somewhat.

"Let's not get into that, shall we?" Naruto suggested. "Alright, I'll show you the hand seals and then we can start our training. Is that alright Sakura-chan?"

"Of course." she replied.

Naruto ran through the twelve basic hand seals, explaining each as he went. He also threw in the four extra hand seals used in the **Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**, **Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors**, **Mind Transfer Jutsu**, and his own version of the **Shadow Clone Jutsu **respectively.

"All right, let me see if I got them all." Liger said when Naruto was finished.

Surprising both of the ninjas, Liger then began to run through all sixteen hand seals perfectly.

"Whoa, that's impressive!" Naruto exclaimed when Liger was done.

"Thanks!" Liger said.

"One other thing that you should remember," Sakura told him, "is that certain hand seals are commonly affiliated with certain elements."

"The elements are: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning." Naruto added for Liger's benefit.

"That's right Naruto." Sakura said. "The Tiger seal usually accompanies Fire Style techniques, the Rat seal goes with Earth and Wood techniques, which I'll go into in a moment, and the Dog seal goes with Ice techniques. Now many ninja have a Kekkai Genkai, or bloodline limit, that allows them to use certain special abilities. Some Kekkai Genkai allow the user to mix elements. The Wood Style ninja art is a mix of Earth and Water, the Lava Style is a mix of Earth and Fire, the Ice Style is a mix of Water and Wind, the Boil Style is a mix of Fire and Water, and finally, the Storm Style is a mix of Water and Lightning."

"So there's a bunch of different attacks that I could come across." Liger assumed.

"Correct." Sakura confirmed. "Now there are also dōjutsu, or eye-based Kekkai Genkai. So far only three are confirmed: the Uchiha's Sharingan and its upgrade the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Hyuga's Byakugan, and the Rinnegan."

"Do you know who I need to talk to to see those?" Liger asked.

"Talk to Kakashi about the two Sharingans and either Neji or Hinata for the Byakugan. No one has the Rinnegan anymore." Naruto answered.

"There are many other Kekkai Genkai out there, so you'll always have to be wary of them." Sakura told him. "That's about it."

"Alright, time for training!" Naruto said excitedly.

Liger sat down at the edge of the treeline as Naruto and Sakura moved to the center of the grassy field and faced each other. Naruto and Sakura, unlike Liger, were unaware that Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi were watching from the trees.

"This reminds me of when Naruto and Sakura sparred with you when Naruto returned to the village from his training." Tsunade whispered to Kakashi.

"This is going to be interesting." Kakashi commented.

"Ready, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Let's go, Naruto-kun!" she replied.

"FIGHT!" they shouted together.

Naruto began by immediatley leaping backwards about fifteen feet of the ground. He then ran thorugh a few hand seals as he started his attack.

"**Wind Style: Cyclone Spear**!" he called out. He thrust his right hand out and a small, thin twister shot out of his palm at Sakura. She dodged it and ran through some seals of her own to counter.

"**Water Style: Whirlpool Spear**!" A nearly identical spear made of swirling water blasted out of Sakura's hand towards Naruto.

"That's not good." Naruto muttered as he brought his fingers together. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" A second Naruto pooped into existance and swung the original out of the spear's way. As Naruto dropped, Sakura began racing towards him as she channeled chakra to her fist. When she got close, she leapt up and slammed her fist into Naruto's stomach. Suddenly, Naruto popped out of existence in a cloud of smoke.

"_That was the shadow clone?_" Sakura though to herself.

She looked up and saw that the real Naruto was rapidly dropping toward her, with his right leg in position to slam her into the ground. At the last second, she grabbed his ankle and swung him around. After a full revolution, she let him go and prepared another jutsu.

"**Water Style: Current Crasher**!"

This time, a jet of water launched out of both of her hands and rocketed towards Naruto. In response, Naruto angled his body and landed on his feet. Quickly, he used a few hand seals and activated a counter jutsu.

"**Wind Style: Slipstream**!"

Sakura's attack slammed into Naruto at full strength, and passed right through him. He then seemed to disappear.

"What happened?" she said, confused.

A loud bang was heard as Naruto suddenly appeared behind Sakura with a kunai to her throat. She tried to move, but found that she couldn't.

"This is a technique my mother developed." Naruto told her. "Jiraya and I found it when we stopped in Kirigakure. It can be used as a Wind or Water Style attack."

"Why can't I move?" Sakura asked.

"That bang was a supplementary jutsu called **Hurricane Paralysis**." Naruto told her. "It allows me to completely paralyze my opponent until I release the technique."

They heard the sound of clapping as Liger approached them. To their surprise, he was followed by Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi.

"That was an impressive show." Liger told them.

"Where did you learn those techniques?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura answered first. "I learned those two from Shibuki. He was in the village a few weeks ago, if you remember, and I got him to teach me some Water Style techniques after I found out that Water is my nature affinity."

Then it was Naruto's turn. "As I'm sure you heard, I learned the Slipstream and Hurricane Paralysis from one of my mom's scrolls that I found in Kirigakure. I learned the Cyclone Spear from Shibuki. When he taught Sakura the Whirlpool Spear, he told me that the same principles would work for Wind."

"Well." Kakashi said. "Glad to see you're both keeping up with your training."

"Of course, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura told him. "What do you take us for, slackers?"

"Never." Kakashi said defensively.

"Good." she replied.

"I had hoped you would find some techniques to use other than your enhanced strength." Tsunade told Sakura.

"Enhanced strength?" Liger questioned.

"Yes. I developed a way to enhance one's strength with chakra. I passed it on to Sakura as well." Tsunade explained.

"Bet that comes in handy." Liger said.

"It does." Sakura told him.

After this, Kakashi took over the demonstration, first showing Liger the Sharingan and the Mangekyo Sharingan. Then he proceeded to show Liger over a dozen Ninjutsu, including: **Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu**, **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**, **Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**, and the **Lightning Blade**.

"That covers the five main elements." Kakashi said as he finished.

"Awesome." Liger said. "I hope I can recognize this quickly in battle."

After the demonstration, it was past noon, so everyone headed back into the Village; Tsunade and Shizune to the Hokage tower, Kakashi to the Academy, and Liger back to his place to start furnishing it. Naruto and Sakura decided to go to lunch, and headed to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

**A/N: Sorry this one's so short everyone! But I made it short because it's a filler chapter; necessary, but not long. Since the next chapter is the intro/beginning of the first battle, I figured yinz all would forgive me. The Jutsu in this chapter are in bold so they're easily recognizable. Here's the descriptions of my original ones:**

**[Name - Type - User(s) - Description]**

**Wind Style: Cyclone Spear – Ninjutsu – Naruto Uzumaki – Launches a small, thin, spear-like twister of wind at the target**

**Water Style: Whirlpool Spear – Ninjutsu – Sakura Haruno – Launches a small, thin, spear-like whirlpool of water at the target**

**Water Style: Current Crasher – Ninjutsu – Sakura Haruno – Launches a high-pressure jet of water out of both palms at the target; can also be used one-handed**

**Wind Style: Slipstream – Ninjutsu – Naruto Uzumaki; Kushina Uzumaki – Can only be activated when targeted by a streaming jutsu (i.e. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu); causes hostile attacks to phase through the user's body; the user then moves up the streaming jutsu at super-high speed and phase through the target; can also be used as a Water Style jutsu**

**Hurricane Paralysis – Ninjutsu – Naruto Uzumaki; Kushina Uzumaki – Can only be used in collaboration with the Wind Style: Slipstream or Water Style: Slipstream; after user phases through the target, the target is left completely paralyzed until released by the user**

**Let me know what you think!**


	8. Enemies of the Leaf

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 8: Enemies of the Leaf – Taka and the Red Vipers!**

The next day found Tsunade, Gaara, and two others in a conference room in the Hokage tower. Gaara had requested this meeting when he had arrived in the village, but they had to wait until today to actually have the meeting. The one they waited for was the Raikage, leader of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, and older brother of Killer Bee, the Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tailed Beast. The Raikage was currently being escorted to the tower by several ANBU of both Konoha and Kumo. After about a ten minute wait, the Raikage was led into the conference room, leaving all but the ANBU leading him behind. As he took his seat, this ANBU left as well.

Having never met the Raikage before, Tsunade was impressed by the air of authority that surrounded him. He was a tall, dark-skinned, very muscular man. He had slicked-back white hair, a short, white goatee, and a white mustache that was parted in the middle. He wore the traditional cloak of the Raikage, as well as gold bangle bracelets on each of his wrists. Around his waist, he wore a large gold belt with a lion's face engraved in the center.

"Welcome to Konoha, Raikage-sama." Tsunade told him.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." the Raikage answered.

The third male in the room now took the opportunity to speak.

"I trust you are well, Lord Yotsuki." he said.

The Raikage turned to look at the man.

"Indeed I am Lord Ōnoki." he answered.

Although he was Tsuchikage, Ōnoki was somewhat hard to take seriously by his appearance. He was a short, old man with a large nose, white hair, a triangular beard, and a moustache with angular corners. The woman to his left was exactly the opposite. She was a slightly taller than average young woman with red hair and green eyes. She wore a blue garment over fishnet-like webbing. Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail by a blue ribbon. All in all, she was a very beautiful woman.

"Remember me, Lord Yotsuki?" she asked.

"How could I forget, Mizukage-sama?"

"You know better than to call me that." she told him.

"Of course, Lady Uzumaki."

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Five Kage, while they were talking, scores of shinobi were traveling through the trees towards Konoha. Each one wore all black clothing, and each one wore a headband. Engraved on each headband was a pair of red fangs. At the front of the group were four other ninja. The one closest to the rear was a large man with spiked orange hair. He wore a black shirt, tan pants, and a blue cloak. Directly in front of him was another young man. This one had white hair with a light-blue tinge to it, purple eyes, and he wore a matching purple sleeveless shirt with gray pants. He was wearing a belt around his waist with water bottles attached to it, and another belt around his waist that held a large sword. In front of him was the only female of the group. She had red eyes, a matching hair color, and an unusual hairstyle: her hair was short and unkempt on one side, while long and combed on the other. She wore brown glasses, a violet long-sleeeved shirt, black pants, and long black boots.

Unlike his three companions who were all in some state of exhaustion, the leader of the four-man group showed no signs of being tired. He had long black hair with a blue tint and onyx eyes. He wore a long-sleeved white jacket over a sleeveless black shirt. He also wore black pants and black combat boots. A katana hung in its scabbard at his side.

"Can we really trust these Red Vipers, Sasuke?" the white-haired one asked the leader.

"Whether we can or not does not matter, Suigetsu." Sasuke answered. "They fear the power of my Sharingan enough to follow my orders. As long as they do their job, I don't care what they think."

"What exactly is their job, Sasuke?" the orange-haired one asked.

"And ours for that matter." the female added.

"Well, Jugo, their job is to engage Konoha's forces. As for our job, Karin – we're going to eliminate the Hokage."

* * *

"I've called for this meeting to address a growing threat to the five nations." Gaara began. "Our intelligence has reported that the Akatsuki has grown exceptionally more powerful."

"How is that possible?" Tsunade asked. "Itachi Uchiha, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Deidara, and Pain are all dead. And Konan has defected from Akatsuki to become the new leader of Amekagure."

"It seems that Kisame Hoshigaki has taken the role of leader of the organization. He has recrutied Sasuke Uchiha and his team as full members of Akatsuki. In addition, Sasuke has gained control of an organization known as the Red Vipers." Gaara explained.

"Who are they and what kind of threat do they pose?" the Mizukage questioned.

"I can answer that one." the Raikage said. "That slime Orochimaru formed the organization after he defected from Akatsuki. It's an army of shinobi from Otogakure, Getsugakure, and Yugakure as well as low ranked missing-nins from several other villages. They followed Orochimaru's orders, until the Uchiha took control of them."

"Do they have a symbol or anything?" Ōnoki asked.

"Only their headbands." Gaara answered. "They wear headbans with two red fangs engraved on them."

This caused Tsunade to snap eyes open. In a moment, she was at the door to the room.

"What's wrong, Tsunade?" Gaara inquired.

Tsunade didn't answer as she opened the door and called for Shizune. The other Kage couldn't hear what was said between the two, but a few moments later, the door was closed and Tsunade was walking back to the table carrying something. She tossed it onto the table and the others saw that it was a headband. Two red fangs were visible on the metal plate.

"You mean like that?" Tsunade asked.

"Where did you get this?" the Raikage demanded.

"Three unknown shinobi attacked one of my teams. They were all killed by our new mercenary. Kakashi Hatake was the leader of the team and he brought the bodies back for examination. That was found in the cloak of one of the shinobi."

"Mercenary?" Ōnoki questioned. "Why would you need a mercenary?"

"I needed something for the new kid to do, and he couldn't become a ninja." Tsunade explained. "You can meet him later."

"I'm sure we would all like to." the Mizukage answered for all of them.

They moved on to discuss several possible courses of action, talking until about noon, when they decided to break for lunch. As they waited for the food to arrive, Tsunade addressed the Mizukage.

"Lord Yotsuki referred to you as Lady Uzumaki, correct?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes he did." the Mizukage answered. "My name is Keiko Uzumaki."

"Are you by chance related to a Kushina Uzumaki?" Tsunade continued.

"How do you know that name?" Keiko demanded.

"She is the mother of one of my best shinobi." Tsunade answered.

"I always wondered what happened to Kushina. She is my older sister. Who is this shinobi that you say is my nephew?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast." Tsunade answered.

"Would I be able to see him and his mother?" Keiko asked.

"I can send for Naruto right now. However Kushina died during childbirth." Tsunade told her gravely.

"I see; and what of the boy's father?"

"He was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash."

"He was killed fighting the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, if I heard correctly?"

"That is correct." Tsunade answered. She then stood and left the room. After a few minutes, she returned.

"Naruto and his team will arrive after lunch." Tsunade said. "That includes our new Mercenary." she added for the benefit of the other Kage.

Several minutes later, the food arrived and they ate. As soon as they finished, Tsunade had Shizune send Team 7 in and Keiko got to see her nephew for the first time. The five Kage stood and walked over to greet the four warriors.

"It is a pleasure to present Konoha's Team 7." Tsunade said. She then gestured to the adult of the team. "This is Kakashi Hatake, the legendary Copy Ninja, and Jonin leader of Team 7."

Kakashi bowed as he was introduced and then he took over the introductions.

"This is my team: Sakura Haruno, Konoha's Healing Blossom; Naruto Uzumaki, the Toad Sage; and Liger Zero, Konoha's new Mercenary."

Each of the three bowed to the Kages as they were introduced.

Ōnoki and the Raikage were each examining Liger as Keiko looked over her nephew.

"_He definitely looks like the Yondaime Hokage, but I can see a little of Kushina in him too_." she thought.

"Naruto," Tsunade said, interupting Keiko's thoughts, "I called you here because I think you would especially like to meet the Mizukage."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"She means," Keiko answered. "that you would be interested to know my name, Keiko Uzumaki."

Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi's eyes widened at this revelation.

"Who are you?" Naruto finally managed.

"I'm your aunt." Keiko told him. "Kushina was my older sister."

"How come I've never met you before?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry to say that before today, I didn't even know you existed." Keiko answered. "Kushina left the Land of Whirlpools about twenty-four years ago. I had no idea why she left or where she went. However, now I know that she ended up here with your father."

"This is awesome!" Naruto shouted, surprising evryone. "Now I've got two Kages in my family! I'll become Hokage for sure!"

Sakura, Tsunade, and Keiko all smiled when they heard this. The Raikage chuckled, then said, "You'll have to keep up your training if you want to become a strong Kage."

"Don't worry Lord Yotsuki," Tsunade told him, "he's a really strong shinobi already."

"Is that so?" Ōnoki asked.

"Naruto is the one who defeated Pain of the Akatsuki." Kakashi said.

"He's been after my job all his life." Tsunade added.

"Well, moving on from this family reunion," the Raikage said turning to Liger, "let's talk about you."

"What do you mean?" Liger asked confused.

"You don't seem like much of a mercenary." Ōnoki answered.

"We'd like to see what you're made of later." Keiko said.

Suddenly, a large boom interupted the conversation. The door flew open and Shizune ran in.

"Lady Tsunade! The village is under attack!"

"How's that for timing?" Tsunade said. "Looks like you can see Liger's abilites close-up."

They all rushed from the room to the roof of the tower. A large cloud of smoke was visible to the west of the village. They could see that part of the wall had collapsed and ninja were pouring in while Konoha ninja were rushing to meet them.

"Time to earn my stripes." Liger said. He turned and ran to the railing in the direction of his home. Without hesitation, he dove over the edge of the roof.

"Let's go guys." Kakashi told his team as he leapt from the roof, with Naruto and Sakura close behind.

"Any help you could give would be appreciated." Tsunade said to the other Kage. She turned to face them and realized that Gaara was already gone.

"We can't let you and Gaara show us up." the Raikage said as he and Ōnoki followed Team 7.

"I can't stand by while my family fights a battle." Keiko told Tsunade before she too left to join the fight.

"Shizune, prepare the hospital to receive any casualties." Tsunade barked. "It's time to defend the village once again."

Shizune ran off to follow her orders as Tsunade followed everyone else. When she arrived at the site of the battle, she saw that everyone else was already engaging the hundreds of enemies. She spotted a body on the ground and saw the Red Vipers headband on it.

"_Gaara was right_." she thought to herself.

She was interupted by a few Red Vipers who decided to make the mistake of attacking her. As she engaged the ninja, she heard the roar of Naruto's Rasengan as he ripped through a group of unlucky shinobi. She finished off the last ninja when she heard someone behind her. She turned and saw a ninja with a sword charging her. He was about to run her through when she heard a shout.

"STRIKE LASER CLAW!"

Liger suddenly appeared and slashed right through the ninja's sword before it reached Tsunade and he decapitated the man with a followup swing.

"You alright?" he asked. She nodded and he ran off again. As he left, she saw that Liger's bag was on his back again.

* * *

Naruto was fighting back to back with Neji while Sakura and Tenten were engaing opponents nearby. Suddenly, a jet of water alerted the four to the presence of another. Naruto killed the ninja he was fighting and looked to the source of the water. He growled as he saw Suigetsu standing nearby with a smug grin on his face. Naruto moved to attack and then stopped as he realized something.

"_Wait, if Suigetsu's here, then that means…_"

"Hello again, dobe." Sasuke said into Naruto's ear.

**A/N: I know that I said that I wasn't going to do the Five Kage summit, but I decided that I would have a different version of it. What can I say? I think the Five Kage are awesome! And the reason I said that Keiko (don't know her real name or the Raikage's for that matter) was Naruto's aunt is that she reminds me of his mother, so I made them related. Let me know what you think!**

**p.s. The next chapter is the armor transformation that you've all been waiting for!**


	9. Eyes of the Hawk

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 9: Eyes of the Hawk – The Panzer Armor!**

As soon as it registered with Naruto that Sasuke was standing right next to him, he dove out of the way. As he landed, he turned and whipped a kunai at Sasuke who dodged it easily. By this time, Sakura, Neji, and Tenten realized what was going on and they reacted. Tenten immediately summoned her armor and went after Suigetsu while Neji and Sakura looked for an opening to attack Sasuke. After narrowly dodging Sasuke's shuriken, Naruto realized what Neji and Sakura were doing, and he yelled at them.

"I'll handle Sasuke, you guys find the rest of his team!" he ordered.

"But…" Sakura tried to protest before being interrupted by Neji.

"Sakura, he's right." Neji told her. "Sasuke's no match for Naruto, but we need to find the other two before they try to help Sasuke."

"Alright." Sakura said, defeated. "Good luck, Naruto!" she yelled as she and Neji left.

"You too Sakura!" Naruto yelled back before focusing on Sasuke.

"It seems that Neji doubts my powers." Sasuke commented. "And I thought he was the smart one."

"He _is_ the smart one." Naruto responded. "I'm going to smash you into the ground."

"Like any of you weaklings could defeat me." Sasuke said.

Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan as he leapt into the air and started forming hand seals.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!" he called as Naruto began a counter attack.

"**Wind Style: Cyclone Spear**!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto's Cyclone Spear launched right through his fireball towards him. To make matters worse for Sasuke, the attack somehow carried his fireball with it, creating a cyclone of fire that was heading right for him. At the last second, a jet of water extinguished the flames. Naruto was surprised until he saw Suigetsu with his hand raised towards them. The rescue didn't come without a cost as Tenten brought one of her blades down and severed Suigetsu's outstretched arm.

"**Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu**!" Sasuke shouted, causing Naruto to snap his head back to the battle. A dragon of fire was now flying towards him at high-speed. Naruto barely had enough time to form the hand seals for an appropriate counter.

"**Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu**!" Naruto shouted.

A second dragon, this one made up of a spinning tornado, rocketed towards Sasuke's fire dragon. As the two collided, Sasuke smirked, thinking that his fire jutsu would overpower Naruto's wind one. He was shocked then, when Naruto's dragon blasted his own out of existence and continued towards Sasuke, who dodged it at the last second.

"_What's going on_?" he thought to himself. "_Fire jutsu are supposed to be stronger than Wind jutsu_."

"Don't worry Sasuke." Naruto told him. "You'll be unconscious before you figure it out.

"Let's see how well your wind jutsu stand up to this!" Sasuke shouted as he activated a jutsu with his Sharingan. "**Amaterasu**!"

Jet black flames streamed right towards Naruto who once again used a counter to save himself.

"**Wind Style: Slipstream**!"

Naruto disappeared as the flames hit and he reappeared behind Sasuke, who found that he couldn't move.

"What?" Sasuke growled.

"Don't try to escape, Sasuke." Naruto told him. "It won't work."

Unfortunately, Naruto had to cancel the jutsu to deflect a kunai thrown by an enraged Karin, who was then re-engaged by Sakura. Sasuke used this brief distraction to kick Naruto in the back, sending him flying. He was about to use Amaterasu again when he himself was sent flying by a kick from Liger.

"You guys would be so screwed without me." Liger said to Naruto.

Sasuke landed on his feet and glared at Liger with a copious amount of killer intent.

* * *

While Sasuke and Naruto were battling, elsewhere in the village, Kakashi found himself fighting back to back with the Raikage.

"I must say it is an honor to battle alongside you, Lord Yotsuki." Kakashi said as he killed another enemy.

"I too am honored to fight with such a legend as you, Kakashi." the Raikage answered. "I'm always impressed when I hear of your exploits."

"I'm flattered." Kakashi told him.

"I must say though that I'm most impressed at your **Chidori **and **Lightning Blade**." the Raikage continued. "I would very much like to see it sometime, perhaps now?"

"I think I can do you one better and show you my newest Chidori-based attack." Kakashi said.

He killed another ninja, and then leapt a few yards away so that he was staring down a cluster of Red Vipers. The Raikage, still alert of his surroundings, watched Kakashi closely as the Copy-Ninja began to form several hand seals.

"**Lightning Blade Storm**!" Kakashi called out. Several shadow clones appeared, forming a ring around the group of Red Vipers. Suddenly, the sound of thousands of chirping birds was heard as lightning formed in the right hand of each of the clones. Once the Lightning Blades were complete, the clones all rushed forward and unleashed the deadly attacks on the ninjas, killing all of them instantly. The clones dispersed, leaving Kakashi standing next to a group of corpses.

"Very impressive." the Raikage commended.

"Thank you sir." Kakashi responded. "But if I may sir, I'd like the chance to witness one of your legendary techniques."

"I don't know if it'll top that, but I suppose I could indulge that request." the Raikage answered. Without even using hand seals, the Raikage enveloped his whole arm in lightning. "Watch closely Kakashi." he said.

All of a sudden, he thrust his arm into the air, causing the lightning to blast high into the air, before raining down in a downpour of lightning bolts which killed over a dozen Red Vipers.

"I call that my **Lightning Style: Electric Torrent Jutsu**." the Raikage said as the last of the charred corpses hit the ground.

"That was incredible!" Kakashi exclaimed. "You definitely live up to your reputation, Lord Yotsuki!"

* * *

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke snarled.

"Think nothing." Liger responded. "I know that I'm the one who's going to beat the tar out of you."

"Stay out of this." Naruto told Liger as he appeared next to him. "Sasuke's mine."

"Alright." Liger said. "Let me know if you need a break."

"He's not going to get a break!" Sasuke shouted. "**Chidori**!"

Sasuke's hand was enveloped in lightning as he started rushing towards Naruto.

"Just like old times." Naruto muttered. He summoned a shadow clone, which started to manipulate the blue chakra that appeared in Naruto's palm as Naruto held his arm back. The chakra took on the shape of a sphere and the Shadow Clone disappeared.

"**Rasengan**!" Naruto shouted as he ran to meet Sasuke.

The two attacks met, creating a large explosion. Both Naruto and Sasuke were sent flying backwards, Naruto being caught by Liger. Naruto then summoned another clone to form another Rasengan when Sasuke got to his feet.

"**Susanoo**!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the mighty yamabushi appeared and thrust its sword at Naruto and Liger who jumped away from it.

"Don't get pierced by the sword!" Naruto shouted to Liger.

"I don't intend to!" Liger shouted back.

Naruto attacked the Susanoo with his Cyclone Spear, which was deflected by the shield. This was only a distraction though as Liger leapt towards Susanoo with his claws shining.

"STRIKE LASER CLAW!" he shouted.

Liger was shocked when he found out that his mighty Strike Laser Claw wouldn't cut through the sword. Sasuke took advantage of this by having Susanoo thrust its sword at Liger. Fortunately, Naruto used a Shadow Clone to push Liger out of the way.

"You alright?" Naruto asked.

"I'm fine." Liger answered. "We have to find a way to get rid of that thing."

"It's no use!" Sasuke said triumphantly. "The Susanoo is invincible!"

"Wouldn't be the first time I defeated something invincible!" Liger yelled back. "Step back, Naruto. I'm tearing that thing apart!"

Naruto took a few steps back as Liger removed his bag and tossed it over his shoulder, where it came to rest up against a wall. Liger's eyes turned golden as he held his arms out.

"_He's transforming_!" Naruto thought.

"_What's going on_?" Sasuke asked himself.

The glow in Liger's eyes turned emerald green and enveloped him as his bag began to glow the same color. Armor rocketed out of his bag and equipped to Liger. Then the glow faded, revealing Liger's third armor.

Sasuke and Naruto were awestruck by the metallic olive green armor. The armor covering the bottom half of his face was similar to the Schneider armor, but instead of fins, there were two dark green box-like objects. Inside each of these was a pair of silver cylinders. Two large boxes covered Liger's shoulders. Each one had a sort of hatch on the front and two on the outer side. A fourth panel with an "X" was below the two side hatches, and two more silver cylinders were projecting out of the front of the boxes. Similar armor covered his hips. The forearm armor encased his arm completely in thick green armor as did the shin armor. However the most prominent part of the armor was the two huge black objects hanging on his back. They consisted of two long black pipes, the top one about twice the size of the bottom one, and were connected by black plates. Two hose-like metal tubes ran under the bottom cylinders connecting the tips of the tubes to the black boxes at the ends. In between the black objects, attached to Liger's back, was a series of green ridges, each one higher than the one behind it. Each of the six ridges had five silver cylinders inside.

"Very few things can withstand my Panzer armor." Liger said confidently. The black tubes on his back swung up over his head on a pair of green arms, coming to rest in front of Liger and pointing at the Susanoo. He took hold of two handles that swung down from the bottom of what Naruto now realized were cannons. A black rectangle with an orange lens rose out of the top of Liger's right cheek armor and swiveled into place in front of Liger's right eye as two black skid-like stabilizers folded out of the calf armor and landed on the ground. He used the orange lens to aim the cannons at Susanoo as the insides of the cannons began to glow gold. It seemed that gold-colored particles were being sucked into the cannons.

"Hybrid Cannon…" Liger said as a loud beep confirmed the lock-on, "Fire!"

Two gold beams of energy blasted out of the cannons as Liger was sent skidding backwards, the stabilizers keeping him on his feet. The beams slammed into Susanoo which exploded. They continued through and flew past Sasuke, the aftershock shredding his shirt and lacerating his flesh. Sasuke was sent flying backwards and slamming against the rubble of the part of the wall that the Hybrid Cannons destroyed. Sasuke then collapsed at the foot of the rubble in a bloody heap.

The firing of the cannons caused all of the fighting to stop, giving Karin and Suigetsu an opportunity to make their way to Sasuke where they were joined by Jugo. Naruto hurried over to a panting Liger and was joined by Sakura, Tenten and Neji.

"What was that?" Sakura asked. "It was incredible!"

"That was my Hybrid Cannon." Liger said, still trying to catch his breath. "It fires two shots of concentrated energy, but leaves me and the armor very overheated for a few minutes."

"Sakura, do you think you could help him speed up the process of cooling down?" Neji asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said as she formed a few hand seals, "**Water Style: Tranquil Palm Jutsu**!"

The technique caused crystal-blue water to cover Sakura's hand which she placed on Liger's forehead. The water seemed to wash over Liger's body before disappearing leaving Liger completely dry. Revitalized, Liger straightened up as the cannons returned to his back.

"Suigetsu," Jugo said, taking on the role of leader with Sasuke out of commission, "hold them off while we get Sasuke somewhere safe."

"With pleasure." Suigetsu said as he stepped forward. He started forming hand seals as Karin and Jugo leapt away, Jugo carrying Sasuke. When Suigetsu formed the last seal, he activated his jutsu.

"**Water Style: Aqua Army Jutsu**!" he called out. He then began to multiply into well over a score of clones.

"Those clones are made out of water." Neji commented, looking through his Byakugan. "Normal attacks won't work and using Ninjutsu will only waste our chakra. We need to figure out a way to evaporate all of them at once."

"Leave that to me." Liger told them. "Stand way behind me."

Naruto, Tenten, Neji, and Sakura all leapt about thirty feet behind Liger. Once they were a safe distance away, Liger activated the Panzer's secondary weapons. Transparent blue screens slid upwards out of the armor's face-plates and came to a stop at eye-level. A circular targeting reticule appeared on the middle screen as Liger's armor opened up. Every one of the hatches on his armor opened, revealing dozens of silver cylinders. The ridges on his back extended outward a few inches from his body. Then, every one of Suigetsu's clones appeared on the two side screens in front of Liger's face. Small, green, diamond-shaped targets appeared over each of the clones. They turned orange as each was targeted. When the last clone was targeted, the center targeting reticule turned orange as well.

"Okay, here we go." Liger said. "Burning Big Bang!"

Every one of the silver cylinders rocketed off of Liger, sending dozens of missiles at Suigetsu's clones. Suigetsu was too stunned to try to dodge the missiles and each one hit its target. The ensuing explosions instantly evaporated the clones, except for the missile that hit the real Suigetsu. He screamed in pain as his body was torn apart by the missile, leaving his burnt remains to crumple to the ground. Clouds of steam rushed out of Liger's armor as the hatches closed back up. Liger was now sweating profusely and Sakura ran to him, intending to use her technique again.

"It won't work this time." Liger told her. "I have to jettison the armor." He did exactly that, the Panzer armor producing a cloud of steam and then disappearing as it left his body. A large cloud of steam rose off of Liger, who took his black tank-top off to cool down.

"_Good thin Ino's not here to see that_." Sakura thought to herself as she turned away to hide her blush. Tenten was not as classy, however and she was openly staring at Liger.

Liger looked around and was unable to see any of the Red Vipers.

"Ah, man." he complained. "I scared them off."

"Not all of us!" Jugo yelled.

Liger and the ninjas quickly looked to the top of the wall where they heard Jugo's voice from. Wanting to finish the battle, Liger leapt at the wall, using his claws to climb up it at a fast clip. Naruto was the first to follow, and then Tenten, Neji, and Sakura went too. When they reached the top, they saw Liger and Jugo glaring at each other. Karin and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen.

"You killed Suigetsu and nearly killed Sasuke." Jugo growled. "Now you'll have to face my almighty Cursed Seal Stage Three!"

"_That doesn't sound good_." Liger thought to himself.

Jugo leapt backwards into the air over the outskirts of the village and started to transform. He turned into his Cursed Seal Stage Two form: Jugo's skin turned dark and his sclera turned black. His elbows grew sharp edges, his nails sharped, and he grew horns at the top of his head that extended to his cheeks. On his back, what appeared to be six jet booster-like appendages grew. Then he ascended to level three. His body turned charcoal gray as the spikes on his back and the horns on his face turned blood red. Then his body grew to an enormous size, finally stopping at roughly the size of the One-Tailed Shukaku.

"Naruto, you need to summon Gamabunta." Neji said. "We'll cover you."

"What's Gamabunta?" Liger asked over his shoulder.

"The Chief Toad of the Toad Summons." Naruto answered proudly.

"That won't cut it." Someone said.

They all turned around to see Kakashi staring at Jugo with his Sharingan active.

"Jugo's too powerful in that state. You'd only get Gamabunta injured or killed.

"Then what do we do?" Sakura asked.

"Our only opt…" Kakashi began to reply before suddenly, everyone except Liger froze. None of them could move, causing Liger to take notice when Kakashi didn't finish his sentence.

"What the?" Liger muttered to himself. "What happened?"

He walked up to Sakura and snapped his fingers in front of her face. She didn't even blink.

"_This must be one of those Genjutsu Kakashi was talking about_." Liger realized.

He turned and looked hard at Jugo. His perfect eyesight allowed him to make out the form of Sasuke standing on Jugo's shoulder, Mangekyo activated.

"_I thought he was out of commission. His teammates must have healed him_."

"I don't know how you escaped my **Chamber of Death Jutsu**!" Sasuke shouted to Liger. "But instead you can watch your friends suffer!"

Liger didn't know what he meant by that until he heard a choking sound from the five ninja next to him. He looked at them and realized they were being strangled by whatever Sasuke was using against them. Intense fury consumed Liger as he turned back to Sasuke and Jugo.

"No one harms my friends and gets away with it," Liger growled before rising to a yell, "NOBODY!"

His claws began shining gold as his eyes started to shine blood red. A continuous gust of wind flowed away from his body in all directions. His teeth changed into a row of fearsome fangs, all shining gold. Liger bent his head back and yelled at the top of his lungs. Then, his yell turned into the fierce roar of a lion as the gust of wind increased in force. The ferocity of the roar seemed to snap everyone out of the Genjutsu. Everyone looked on, amazed as Liger's entire body began to glow golden, except for his eyes, which remained red.

**A/N: There it is: the mighty Panzer armor! And I think that the excitement and suspense will continue for those who correctly assume waht is coming next chapter! I know that some of you will be upset that the fight between Naruto and Sasuke wasn't very long, but that was a small teaser for what's coming later. And now, here is a guide to this chapter's Saberdragon-original jutsu:**

**[Name - Type - User(s) - Description]**

**Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu – Ninjutsu – Sasuke Uchiha – Fire version of the Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu; not to be confused with Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu which is a more powerful version of the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**

**Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu – Ninjutsu – Naruto Uzumaki – Wind version of the Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**

**Water Style: Tranquil Palm Jutsu – Ninjutsu – Sakura Haruno – User's hand becomes covered in crystal-blue water that, when placed on patient's forehead, spreads to the patient's whole body, completely revitalizing it; does not treat chakra exhaustion**

**Water Style: Aqua Army Jutsu – Ninjutsu – Suigetsu Hōzuki – Creates up to fifty water clones of the user; as long as one clone remains, all others can reform without user's chakra**

**Cursed Seal Stage 3 – Transformation – Jugo – Most advanced Stage of Cursed Seal; causes user's flesh to take on a charcoal gray color; causes user to grow to roughly the size of the One-Tailed Shukaku**

**Chamber of Death Jutsu – Genjutsu – Sasuke Uchiha – Causes all targets to become completely immobile; allows user to constrict all captured targets at will; can only be used while user has an active Mangekyo Sharingan; requires collaboration with a being in a Cursed Seal Stage 3**

**Lightning Style: Electric Torrent Jutsu - Ninjutsu - Lord Yotsuki (Raikage) - Envelopes the user's entire arm in lightning. Once the lightning is gathered, the user thrusts their arm into the air, which releases the lightning. This causes the lightning to rain down in a shower of bolts.**

**In addition, I would like to thank "omnitrixfreak**" **for creating the Lightning Blade Storm as a prize for Chapter 4's contest. Here is the rundown:**

**Lightning Blade Storm - Ninjutsu - Kakashi Hatake - User creates several Shadow Clones which all use the Lightning Blade simultaneously**

**And for those of you who are having a hard time visualizing Liger's Panzer armor/attacks, then just watch Episode 19 of Zoids: New Century Zero. Just let me know if you want/need a link to the episodes online. Let me know what you think!**


	10. All Out Assault

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 1: Teeth of the Liger**

**Chapter 10: All Out Assault – Liger's True Form!**

Recap: _"No one harms my friends and gets away with it," Liger growled before rising to a yell, "NOBODY!"_

_His claws began shining gold as his eyes started to shine blood red. A continuous gust of wind flowed away from his body in all directions. His teeth changed into a row of fearsome fangs, all shining gold. Liger bent his head back and yelled at the top of his lungs. Then, his yell turned into the fierce roar of a lion as the gust of wind increased in force. The ferocity of the roar seemed to snap everyone out of the Genjutsu. Everyone looked on, amazed as Liger's entire body began to glow golden, except for his eyes, which remained red._

"Is he using a new armor?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"No." Naruto said. "His eyes and teeth don't change when he uses his armor. This is something else."

"The question is: what?" Kakashi added.

Liger didn't seem to hear them. He stopped roaring once his body started glowing. Then, Liger got down on all fours as he began to change. His shoulders and hips grew broader, while his face elongated into a muzzle. His feet turned into large paws and his knee joints inverted. Then his arms turned into copies of his legs. His back bent into a more feline shape and his ears disappeared. His eyes slanted sideways and his canines lengthened as a tail grew. In general, he took on the shape of a large glowing cat. Then the glow turned white and Liger leapt off of the wall, landing in the grassland portion of the outskirts. It was there that the transformation got even more amazing. Liger started growing until he was almost thirty feet tall. Then the glow faded, leaving the shocking results of the transformation. Liger was now an actual liger, standing at twenty-eight feet tall and made out of black metal. It wasn't a perfect liger; it was a machine version of a liger. It was equipped with white armor on its ankles, shins, shoulders, chest, tail-tip and head. Two rectangles were attached to its back. Its ears and cheeks were guarded by fin-like projections that also appeared on the top of his head and under his chin, forming a mane of sorts. Red knobs projected out of the ankle, knee, and shoulder joints. Pistons could be seen on its legs, allowing for movement. Finally, there were two cannons on the underside, attached to the belly. Liger stretched and shook his whole body like a large cat would, the he let out a loud roar as a challenge to Jugo.

"What happened to Liger?" Tenten asked.

"That must be his Jinchūriki form." Naruto assumed.

"No." Neji told them. "It has no chakra. It's something else entirely."

"Do you really think that you can defeat me?" Jugo laughed. "You're not even half my size!"

Liger's response was another roar, and then the battle started. Liger started running straight at Jugo, who brought his chakra cannons to his front. Jugo fired a full six-shot barrage at Liger, who leapt to the side and dodged the shots. Then Liger fired two retaliatory shots from his cannon that took out two of Jugo's cannons. Jugo tried to slam Liger with his fist, but he missed. Liger, having seen the move coming, activated his boosters and shot past Jugo. Once past, he turned around and leapt at Jugo's back. The impact knocked the colossus over and sent Sasuke flying. Liger used his teeth and bit of another of Jugo's cannons before being forced off by a need to dodge the remaining three. Jugo hauled himself to his feet and began a stream of continuous fire. Liger once again activated his boosters and ran in circles around Jugo.

"What's his strategy?" Neji wondered out loud.

"I bet he's trying to knock Jugo off-balance to try to take out another one of the chakra cannons." Kakashi surmised.

"Won't Jugo just grow another one?" Naruto questioned.

"Normally yes." a voice answered.

They all turned to see Tsunade standing with the other Kage and most of the Konoha Jonin. A few of the ANBU that guarded the Five Kages were present as well.

"What do you mean, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Growing another cannon in his current state would require complete focus." Tsunade explained. "He can't afford that while fighting off Liger."

She was prevented from continuing when an enormous boom drew their attention back to the battle. Liger's circling had caused Jugo to lose his balance and fall over. Liger then used his guns to destroy two more cannons, leaving only one.

"How is this possible?" Jugo roared as he stood. "Nothing can defeat my Cursed Seal Stage 3!"

Liger's response was another roar as he charged Jugo again. This time, the fins on his cheeks opened outward and they, along with Liger's claws and leg joints, began glowing gold. Jugo aimed his last cannon and fired a large beam of chakra. Liger activated his boosters and dove under the beam. He landed at Jugo's feet and stood on his hind legs, catching Jugo in the throat with the golden claws.

"That looks like his Strike Laser Claw." Naruto said.

It was an intense struggle. Liger fought to keep his position on his hind legs as Jugo tried to aim the cannon at Liger. Suddenly, Liger roared loudly and fired his cannons at Jugo's last weapon, destroying it. The force of the explosion tipped the struggle in Liger's favor, allowing him to topple Jugo. As brought Jugo to the ground, his paw slammed into Jugo's head, killing the monstrosity. Liger's cheek guards returned to their normal position as he stopped glowing. Liger then raised his head and let out a deafening roar of triumph over his slain enemy.

"That was awesome!" Naruto cheered loudly.

"I can't believe he won so fast." Tsunade commented.

"It was his speed." Keiko explained. "Jugo may have had the advantage in power and size, but Liger was quicker and more agile. He was able to win because he used that to his advantage. "

"And without Sasuke guiding him, Jugo couldn't think rationally." Kakashi added.

They all watched as Jugo's corpse returned to normal, and Liger made his way over to the wall. He crouched and leapt to the top, reverting back to his fully clothed human form in a flash of gold light before he landed.

"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?" he said.

"Of course." Tsunade replied with a grin.

* * *

After they all made sure that all enemies were gone, Liger once again found himself sitting in front of Tsunade's desk. Only this time, he was being scrutinized by five Kage instead of one. In addition, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi were sitting on the couch as they all waited to hear Liger's story.

"What you saw was my true form." he began. "I wasn't human originally. I'm what is known as a Zoid. Specifically, I'm the RZ-041 Liger Zero. Zoid is short for zoic android. We're basically mechanized forms of animals."

"We?" Tsunade questioned. "Just how many of you are there?"

"Well, I'm the only Liger Zero. But there are over two hundred individual units. A few however are completely unique like me. Usually, such as in my case, the zoids are unique because of our Zoid Core. This Core is basically the heart of every zoid. However, the unique ones have a special addition to their Zoid Core. It's called an Organoid System. This System is what allows me to take on a human form. The zoids were created by an ancient, but highly advanced civilization known as the Zoidians. It is their mysterious abilities that allow me to transform."

"Are you even from this world?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes and no." Liger answered. "I'm from the Planet Zi, but I was told that your planet and mine are parallel. It was another Zoidian ability that allowed me to come here."

"So why are you here?" Tsunade asked.

"Exploring." he explained. "I volunteered to be the first one to come here to your world."

"Are any others coming to our world?" Keiko asked.

"I don't know. I haven't had contact with anyone from my world since I got here a few days before I met Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi." Liger responded.

"What about potential enemies?" the Raikage asked.

"That won't be a problem. The portal is heavily guarded." was Liger's response.

"By what?" Ōnoki demanded.

"6 Ultrasauruses, 4 Madthunders, a dozen Gun Snipers, 8 Raynoses, and over two dozen Blade Ligers." Liger answered. "Please, don't ask for specifics or we'll be here all night."

"What about that Bit guy?" Sakura asked, "The one you told me about."

"That brings me to my next point." Liger continued. "All zoids are independently functional. However, they, with the exception of those with Organoid systems, require human pilots to control properly. Bit Cloud was my pilot."

"I thought you said that zoids like you didn't need a pilot." Tsunade said.

"Normally that would be the case." Liger answered. "However, it was a requirement that I have a human pilot in order to be registered with the Zoids Battle Commission. They organized, controlled, and enforced a planet-wide Zoid Combat program. I was on the Blitz Team. Bit was my pilot and my best friend."

"So why isn't he here?" Kekio asked.

"He took a job as a test pilot and I was needed for Project X, which was the expedition to this world. I haven't seen him in a year."

"You mentioned a team." Kakashi said. "Who did you fight with?"

"Initially, I fought with a Gun Sniper, a Shadow Fox, and a Raynos. Their pilots were also my friends. After my first season of Zoid Combat, the team was changed. I was still with Bit and Leena, the Gun Sniper's pilot. However, Brad, the Shadow Fox's pilot, and Jamie, the Raynos's pilot, left the Blitz Team and formed their own teams. In their place was a Gungyarados and a König Wolf. The Wolf also has an Organoid System and she's part of Project X."

"So how do you contact your friends?" Tsunade asked.

"I can't right now." Liger told her. "I can only make contact at the portal. I'm not supposed to check-in for another month though."

"I think that's about enough for tonight." Tsunade concluded.

"Indeed, Lady Hokage." Lord Yotsuki agreed. "We shall discuss this at a later time. As for now, we shall take our leave for the evening."

* * *

A few hours later found Naruto and Sakura back on top of the Hokage monument. It had become their favorite spot in the village. Liger had gone home, exhausted by his fight. Everyone else had celebrated the victory. Repairs would begin in the morning. But for now, the two Shinobi were content to enjoy each other's company.

"How are you taking this, Naruto?" Sakura suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto responded.

"I mean the fight, seeing Sasuke again, and most of all, Liger's secret." Sakura clarified.

"Well, I'm glad we won; I wish I could've captured Sasuke; and I really didn't see the third one coming." he told her. "But now I wonder what it's like in Liger's world. I think it would be cool seeing all of those zoids he was talking about."

"Maybe we can go with him when he goes home." Sakura suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Naruto exclaimed. "We could be the first ninja to go to his world!"

"We'd have to talk to Tsunade and Liger first and get permission from them." Sakura reminded him.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Naruto said. "We have a whole month before we get to that."

* * *

Several miles away, in a dark clearing of the forest, the tranquil night was disrupted by the sound of crackling electricity. A black fog filled the clearing; blue bolts of lightning could be seen arcing through the cloud. Suddenly, the darkness of the fog was pierced by a pair of shining, blood-red eyes.

"So this is where you've come, Liger Zero." a voice said from the cloud.

**A/N: Thus concludes Part 1: Teeth of the Liger! I'm sorry that this chapter isn't the best (I'm not too thrilled with it, but it needed to be done). I apologize that Liger's transformation is completely crap. I also apologize that the battle between Liger and Jugo was so short. But I want you all to know that the next battles will be much better. Thanks for all your support for Part 1! Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm is on its way. I'm also having another contest. Whoever correctly guesses the identity of the newcomer will win a prize! So let me have your guesses!**


	11. The New Girl in Town

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 11: New Girl in Town – König the Beautiful!**

It was a week since the attack by Taka and the Red Vipers. During that time, most of the village's repairs were completed. Naruto and Sakura had been able to spend a whole week in each other's company. But most importantly, Liger had finally gotten the chance to furnish his home.

The current afternoon found Liger hard at work. Two days prior, Tenten had approached him about forging blades for her to replace the pair he broke. Specifically, she wanted blades similar to his. Not being a blacksmith, Liger had been a bit apprehensive, but relented when he found out exactly what he had to do. Konoha's blacksmith, who happened to be Tenten's uncle, was willing to assist Liger in the forging. However, Liger still had to do the hard work, such as pumping the billows. Tenten's uncle, a man named Tanaka, agreed to craft the blade for Liger on two conditions. The first condition was that the blades would be designed from Liger's own blades. That wasn't a problem for Liger. However the second condition was another story.

Tanaka had required that Liger prove himself as an accomplished swordsman. Unfortunately, Liger was not allowed to use the Schneider armor itself. So, wielding the powerless Schneider blades, Liger had accepted Tanaka's agreement. The challenge itself was difficult for Liger who had to display a mastery of three different combat styles. Luckily, Tenten taught Liger two of the styles as thanks for the blades. These two, combined with the Schneider style, were sufficient to meet Tanaka's standards the day before. Now, Liger was pumping for one last session as Tanaka put the finishing touches on the second blade. Its sister was lying on a rack as it cooled.

"I must say I've never made blades such as these." Tanaka told Liger after the second blade was placed with the first. "And yours are two of the most magnificent I've ever seen."

"Thank you, sir." Liger said as he bowed respectfully.

"I'm also glad that you changed your mind about replacing my daughter's swords." Tanaka continued.

"Of course, sir." Liger told him. "I would never break a friend's blades and not replace them. However, I had hoped that telling Tenten of the possibility would convince her that I was holding back for a good reason."

"She's a stubborn girl when it comes to combat." Tanaka said.

"Well, if that's it, I'll deliver these blades and be on my way." Liger said as he grabbed Tenten's new blades.

"She'll be happy to see them." Tanaka told him.

* * *

While Liger went to deliver the blades to their new owner, a mysterious figure approached the gates of the Village. Izumo and Kotetsu confronted the female newcomer by blocking the path.

"Sorry miss, but we can't just let you walk into the Village without authorization." Izumo told her.

"But," she tried to say before she was cut off.

"No exceptions." Kotetsu told her. "Now leave."

"Well, that could be a problem." she said.

Suddenly, smoke poured out of her sleeves, engulfing all three of them. When the smoke dissipated, the woman was nowhere to be found.

"We have to alert the Hokage!" Kotetsu told his partner.

"Now we can't have that." the woman said from right behind them. Before the two Chunin could turn around, they felt a pressure on the back of their necks. As the two men hit the ground unconscious, the woman resumed walking into the village.

* * *

"I've never seen anyone that into weapons." Liger muttered to himself as he walked through the Village after delivering Tenten's blades. "She would get along great with Leena."

As he turned a corner, he saw a black blur shoot past him, followed by an orange one, then a pink one. His arm shot out and he caught Sakura by the shoulder.

"What's going on?" Liger asked.

"We're trying to catch that wolverine." Sakura explained.

"Why?"

"It stole a very important scroll from the Hokage's office." she told him.

"How did… never mind." Liger said, deciding that weirder things have happened, "Let's go catch that wolverine!"

He turned and tore off after Naruto and the wolverine with Sakura close behind him.

* * *

The wolverine in question had made several turns, trying to lose its pursuers. It had unusually high stamina for a wolverine, but this was crucial to steal the scroll now clenched in its teeth. After one last turn, the wolverine found itself running towards the village gates. Taking a glance behind, he saw the orange-clad human close behind him.

"Get back here!" the human yelled.

The wolverine ignored the human as it turned its head back to the front. Suddenly, its forward progress was halted as it was picked up off of the ground by a pair of hands around its waist. The wolverine squirmed, trying to scratch its captor, when it felt a pressure on the back of its neck. The woman holding the wolverine took her hand off of the now unconscious creature's neck and removed the scroll from its mouth just as Naruto came up to her.

"Thanks for catching him." Naruto told the woman as he finally caught his breath.

"No problem." the woman told him as she handed him the wolverine.

Then Liger and Sakura showed up. Sakura thanked the woman and took the scroll off of her. But Liger was focused on the woman herself, trying to remember where he'd seen her before.

The woman was about Sakura's height and had long, blond hair that came down to mid-back. Her eyes were red; the same shade as Liger's. She was wearing a white jacket that came down to mid-thigh over a black tank-top. She also wore white pants and white boots with silver tips. On her shoulders were two identical symbols: a golden 'Z' encircled by a pair of gold swooshes.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me, LZ." she said.

"König?" he questioned.

"Of course!" she told him as she hugged him.

"It's so great to see you!" Liger told her. "What are you doing here?"

"Provide back-up in case of emergencies." König answered. "Nobody thought of the possibility that you might have landed in a hostile environment until after you left. I requested that I be sent as support."

"Well I'm glad you're here." he said. "This is Naruto and Sakura. Guys, I'd like you to meet my teammate, König."

"Teammate?" Sakura questioned. "Does that mean that you're like him?"

"If you're asking if I'm a zoid, then yes, I am." König answered.

"Since you're here, we should take you to the Hokage to see about getting you on our team and find you a place to stay." Naruto told her.

"She can stay at my place." Liger said. "I have a spare room."

"Who's the Hokage?" König asked.

"Our Village's leader." Sakura explained.

"Come on," Liger told her, "I'll explain on the way."

* * *

After a lengthy explanation about what had happened to Liger and what he had learned in the last week and a half, König was caught up on the status of Liger's mission as they approached the Hokage tower.

"I can't believe you already had to transform." she commented upon hearing the end of Liger's story. "We thought you'd at least make it a week before jumping into trouble."

"What can I say?" Liger responded. "Trouble always finds me."

König followed Liger and the two ninjas into the tower. After climbing several flights of stairs, they reached Tsunade's office. Naruto knocked and Tsunade called them in. When they entered the room, the first thing they noticed was Tsunade had visitors. Specifically, it was Izumo and Kotetsu, who were both standing in front of Tsunade's desk giving a report.

"_Uh oh_." König thought to herself.

"That's her Lady Hokage!" Izumo exclaimed when he saw König.

"ANBU!" Tsunade yelled.

Three ninja dressed in black and wearing white masks appeared and held swords to König's throat. However, they didn't expect Liger's reaction. Before anyone could react, Liger was in front of Tsunade with his right hand outstretched. His claws were pointed at her throat and were shining golden. He glared at her with shining red eyes. Naruto and Sakura were shocked that the normally polite Liger could be so enraged.

"Tell them to lower their weapons or I'll slaughter every last one of you." he growled venomously.

"How dare you," Tsunade started before being interrupted by Liger.

"Never threaten the life of one of my teammates or there will be consequences." he told her.

"What do you mean teammate?" Tsunade demanded.

Liger ignored her, instead directing his rage towards the three ANBU.

"Lower your weapons, or die a very painful death." he said.

"You shouldn't turn your back on a hostage!" Tsunade yelled as she tried to punch Liger with her Chakra-enhanced strength. Unfortunately, Liger saw her fist coming and caught it with his hand. Tsunade found that her legendary strength was no match for the strength of the furious Liger.

"What was I supposed to do?" Tsunade asked, clearly in pain from Liger's mighty grip. "She knocked out the Village's gatekeepers and trespassed into the village."

"She was here to find me because she was worried about me." Liger told her. "She had no way of knowing if I was in danger or not, so she had to get to my location. Your gatekeepers tried to bar her from entering the Village without a chance to explain herself, which she perceived as trying to bar her from getting to me. Am I correct?"

"Be that as it may, I can't let people just walk into the Village unauthorized." Tsunade told him.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge people, Tsunade." Liger responded. "As soon as she was identified by these two, you jumped to the conclusion that she was an enemy. Without even questioning why she was with the three of us and why we treated her like a friend?"

With that, Liger let go of Tsunade's hand and turned away from her. After he glared at the three ANBU, they lowered their swords and König followed Liger as he stormed from the office.

"Are you alright, Lady Hokage?" one of the ANBU asked.

"I'm fine." she answered. "You're dismissed."

The three ANBU disappeared, leaving Tsunade with Naruto and Sakura.

"He was right. You could have at least given her a chance to explain herself." Naruto said coldly, before leaving also.

"Are you going to leave and hate me too?" Tsunade asked Sakura.

"No, Lady Tsunade." Sakura answered. "You have enough people mad at you."

"Who was she anyway?" Tsunade questioned.

"She's Liger's teammate." Sakura explained. "She's here in case Liger needs back-up. We just met her about twenty minutes ago."

"And why did Naruto get so angry?"

"Because he knows what it's like to not be trusted; to not be given a chance. And he hates it." Sakura told her.

"I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"You did what you thought was right." Sakura said as she turned to follow her friends. "I'm sure they'll understand and forgive you. Just give them some time."

* * *

Sakura found the three on top of the Hokage monument where she and Naruto would come to watch the stars. Liger and Naruto were still fuming and König just sat there silently, looking upset.

"Are you guys okay?" Sakura asked.

Naruto calmed down when he heard Sakura's soothing voice. Liger wasn't as easy to judge, but he did seem calmer.

"We're fine, Sakura-chan." Naruto told her.

"I'm glad." she responded. "You guys scared me back there. And I think Lady Tsunade's really upset about it."

"I'm sorry I had to say what I said, but it needed to be said." Liger told her. "I should go and apologize for losing my temper."

"No." Sakura told him. "Like you said, it needed to be said. She understands why you got so angry and she's forgiven you. But now that someone's told her the problem, she can try to fix it."

"Thanks for trusting me." König told Naruto and Sakura.

"Of course." Sakura said. "You're our friend."

"Just the same, thank you." König said.

"Well now that we're all back to relative normality, let's go get dinner." Naruto said, jumping up.

"Do you have anything in mind?" Liger asked as he stood, followed by König.

"Not really." Naruto admitted. "Any ideas Sakura-chan?"

"Why don't we take them to Ichiraku's?" Sakura suggested.

"Alright! I haven't been there in days!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What's Ichiraku's?" König asked.

"The best ramen stand in the world!" Naruto told her excitedly. "Come on!"

* * *

After about a twenty minute walk, Naruto led the other three into Ichiraku's. As they sat down, Ayame walked out from the back to greet them and take their order.

"Hi, Naruto, hi Sakura." she said to them. "Who are your friends?"

"This is Liger and König." Naruto told her. "They're new to the Village so I thought I'd bring them to the best place in town!"

"That sounds like our best customer." Teuchi said as he came out from the back to join Ayame.

"What'll you have?" she asked the four.

"I'll have the usual, Ayame-chan." Naruto told her.

"Regular for me, ma'am." Sakura told her.

"Same here." König said.

"I might as well try what Naruto's having." Liger decided.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi said as he and Ayame went to prepare the food.

A few minutes later, the two ramen cooks brought out the four steaming bowls and distributed them to their customers. After their meal, they thanked Ayame and Teuchi and left.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Naruto told Liger and König as he left with Sakura.

"See ya." Liger responded as he took König to his base.

**A/N: Here it is: the first chapter of Part 2! I want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, and supported me so far. Sorry for making Liger appear to be a complete jerk, but I like the way this chapter turned out. Nobody guessed that the red eyes from the end of last chapter belonged to König. How's that for a surprise? Let me know what you think of the new chapter and the story itself!**


	12. A Taste of Zi

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 12: A Taste of Zi – Battle Mode 0992!**

When Liger and König arrived at the base, it was already getting dark. Liger showed König how to open the doors and then he led her inside. He flicked on the lights, giving her a first look at her new home.

"Very spacious." she commented.

"The space gives us room to transform if we want to." Liger explained.

He then took her up the stairs and showed her the location of the bathroom and the kitchen. The kitchen was now equipped with a refrigerator, stove, sink, table, 5 chairs, and cabinets full of dinnerware and food.

"It's not much, but it's good enough." Liger told her.

"It's not so bad." König responded.

After telling her where his room was - on the left end of the building, at the top of the stairs -Liger took her to her room at the far end of the balcony from the stairs. It was fairly simple: white walls and ceiling with a navy-blue wall-to-wall carpet. A king-size bed occupied the far wall. It was covered with sheets that matched the carpet. Two white pillows completed the bed. On the ceiling was a white fan, and the left wall was the location of the walk-in closet. On the right wall was a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. It was currently empty.

"It's the same as my room; fairly boring I know, but you can decorate it however you want." Liger told her.

"It'll do just fine." König responded.

She walked over to the closet and opened it, inspecting the storage space. Suddenly, something dawned on her.

"I left my bag outside the Village!" she exclaimed.

"Why didn't you have it with you?" Liger asked.

"If I was captured, I could have sent a signal to the bag, which would have relayed a distress call to the vortex." she explained.

"Where is it?" he questioned. "I'll go get it."

"It's hidden in a rabbit hole about twenty yards down the road outside the gate, then about five feet into the woods. There should be a "z" shaped scratch on the tree above it. The tree is the largest one by the roadside in that area, you can't miss it."

"Alright." Liger said. "I'll be back in a little while. Get some sleep."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Liger reached the rabbit hole and retrieved König's bag. It was the same as his. He slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way back to the Village. As he walked through the Village towards his home, he saw that most of the businesses had closed for the night. He was still looking at the shops, when he stumbled over something. He turned around and stooped down to see what he tripped over. It was a sword.

"_That's strange_." he thought to himself. "_Why is there a sword lying in the middle of the street_?"

Deciding to worry about it later, Liger continued on to his home, sword in hand.

* * *

When Liger returned, he found König asleep on her bed.

"_She must have sat down to wait and got too comfortable_." he realized. "_She was probably tired after her journey_."

He placed her bag in her closet and left the room, closing the door gently so as to not wake her. After turning the building's lights off from a switch next to his door, he entered his room and went to bed himself.

* * *

The next day, König woke up feeling completely refreshed. She stretched and saw her bag out of the corner of her eye.

"_I must have fallen asleep waiting for Liger_." she realized.

She exited her room and made her way to the kitchen where she found Liger sitting at the table. A plate of breakfast was at the seat across from him, which he gestured for her to sit at.

"I hope it's not too bad." Liger told her. "Eggs, toast, and bacon may not be much, but I've screwed up worse."

"I'm sure it's fine." she said as she sat down. "Where's yours?"

"Just about finished actually." he told her as he stood and walked over to the stove. He unloaded some of the breakfast fare onto his own plate before joining her. As they ate, she mentioned the day's plans.

"I actually had something special in mind, if you're up for it." Liger told her.

"Like what?" she asked.

* * *

Naruto finally woke up just before noon. He and Sakura had spent a good two hours star-gazing again and they both got home late. After having breakfast, Naruto decided to see what everyone was up to for today. He was surprised then, when he opened the door and found Liger, hand raised to knock. König was right behind Liger.

"Good timing." Naruto told them.

"Right." Liger said. "Do you think you can gather everyone together, your friends, Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, et cetera?"

"Where, why, and when?" Naruto questioned.

"About a half-mile west of the Village, there's an enormous plain." König answered. "We've got a surprise for you there."

"Just meet us at the West gate as soon as everyone's ready." Liger told him.

"Alright, I can't wait to see what it is." Naruto said as he leapt off to gather his friends.

A half hour later, Naruto led a group of people up to the gate. Liger and König were sitting against the wall. The group consisted of Sakura, Kakashi, Shizune, Tsunade, and the rest of the Konoha 11 and their Jonin. In addition, Anko and Iruka were right behind Naruto; in Anko's case, trying to get some answers out of him.

"What's this surprise you two?" Tsunade asked when they got to Liger and König.

"We've decided to show you guys a little about how things are done in our world." Liger told them.

"But we need to take this somewhere open and away from the Village." König added.

"This should be interesting." Tsunade commented. "Lead the way."

The group of ninja followed Liger and König through the trees away from the Village. Most of the group was trying to figure out who König was; meanwhile, Tsunade sped up, so that she was next to Liger and König.

"I wanted to say that I was sorry about yesterday." she told them. "I shouldn't have been so quick to overreact."

"I'm sorry too." Liger told her. "I shouldn't have threatened you like that."

"It's okay." Tsunade said. "I deserved that. Though I was impressed at how quickly you reacted."

"Well, I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to König while I could do something about it." Liger explained.

"How romantically cliché." Tsunade said.

"Bite me." Liger responded.

After about five minutes of running through the trees, they stopped in a wide, open, grassy plain.

"You guys should stay over here." Liger told the ninja. "We don't want you getting hurt."

"Just sit back and enjoy the show." König added.

The ninja all sat down along the tree line as Liger and König took their places. They moved away from the ninja and each other, until they had about a one-hundred yard radius around them.

Suddenly, a large burning object rocketed from the sky and slammed into the ground producing a large dust cloud and a crater. Out of the crater rose a tall, white cylinder with a oddly complex base. Two gray clasps near the base of the cylinder released as part of the base slid downwards and the front of the cylinder rose upwards, revealing the contents. A white, human-sized robot was standing inside the cylinder. It had a triangular torso, toped with a cylindrical head. The "face" was a black glass visor. Instead of feet, it had a single white column leading to a round disc-like base. It had no hands, but had blade-like projections at the ends of its arms. The left one was red and the right was blue. A siren began to sound; it was intermittent, but it was also loud. Then a robotic voice projected from the robot.

"THE AREA WITHIN A FIVE-MILE RADIUS IS A DESIGNATED ZOID BATTLEFIELD! THIS ZONE IS NOW RESTRICTED! ONLY COMPETITORS AND PERSONNEL HAVE AUTHORIZED ENTRY! DANGER! ALL OTHERS MUST LEAVE THE AREA AT ONCE!"

"That must be a judge of some kind." Kakashi observed.

"You guys can be our personnel!" König called to them.

"This is where the fun begins!" Liger added.

He leaned his head back and let loose a yell which turned into the roar of a liger. His eyes, teeth, and claws changed and began shining as he was enveloped by the golden light of his transformation. A few seconds later, Liger was replaced by the full-size Liger Zero. Those who hadn't seen his transformation during the battle were surprised to say the least. But they were all surprised at what König did next.

She tilted her head back and let out a yell that turned into the howl of a wolf. Her fingernails turned into wolf-like claws and her teeth sharpened. Her eyes began shining the same shade as Liger's as a silver glow enveloped her. Then she got down on all fours and began to change.

Her face took on the shape of a muzzle and her ears were replaced by wolf ears on the top of her head. Her legs and arms also took on a canine appearance as her back became more dog-like. A large tail also appeared. She had taken the form of a wolf. Then she grew to Liger's size, before her glow faded, revealing her true form.

König turned into a large, mechanized wolf. Her body was covered in black metal, just like Ligers. In addition, she had white pieces of armor on top of that on her head, limbs, and tail. She had green knobs on her joints as opposed to Liger's red ones. On her shoulder armor were the gold symbols that were also on her jacket's shoulders. Her large claws were silver and she had a booster on her back, similar to Liger's. She stretched her body, leaving everyone amazed at her Zoid form. Then the Judge continued.

"THIS ZONE IS NOW RESTRICTED! DANGER! AREA SCANNED! BATTLEFIELD SET-UP! THE KÖNIG WOLF VERSUS THE LIGER ZERO! BATTLE MODE 0992!"

As the Judge announced the Battle Mode, the fours numbers showed up on his visor. Then he raised his arms.

"READY! FIGHT!"

Liger and König both charged at each other. They leapt into the air, each raising a paw to strike. However, they hit simultaneously, their whole bodies slamming together with a loud crash. As they hit the ground, each landed differently. Liger smashed into the ground on his back and then tumbled for a few yards. König however, had landed on her side and skidded across the plains. As soon as she stopped, she got to her feet and, with a growl, she ran at Liger, who had just gotten to his feet. He leapt backwards at the last second, sending König past him. Before he could take advantage of the situation, she activated her boosters and moved away. He activated his own boosters and went after her.

"I've never seen anything like this." Tsunade commented. "They're incredibly agile for something so big."

"And this is just the start of the battle." Kakashi added.

König skidded to a halt and spun around to face Liger who was unable to stop. She lowered her shoulder and as he slammed into her, she used her shoulder and his momentum to throw him over her. However, Liger righted himself and landed, using the landing to spin around and face König. She turned towards him as he began his charge, activating his Strike Laser Claw as he ran. König responded by running at him. As she charged, her legs started to glow silver, producing a loud hum that matched Liger's.

"That must be her version of the Strike Laser Claw." Naruto observed.

The two zoids leapt into the air at each other, each raising a paw to strike the final blow. They slammed into each other, creating a powerful shockwave that rushed past the ninja, threatening to blow them away. Liger and König each hit the ground, hard as their weapons deactivated.

Liger was the first to stand, struggling to his feet as he tried to recover from the impact. Then König stood, also fighting to stay upright. However, she couldn't take the strain and she collapsed.

"BATTLE OVER! BATTLE OVER!" the Judge called out. "THE WINNER IS: THE LIGER ZERO!"

"Wow!" Sakura exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

"That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!" Kiba shouted.

Liger reverted to his human form and ran over to König. She changed back as he got to her and he helped her up. As they made their way over to the ninja, the Judge spoke again.

"LIGER ZERO, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WIN! FAREWELL! UNTIL THE NEXT BATTLE!"

The front of the cylinder closed and locked. Then the whole cylinder blasted off, returning the Judge to space as the ninja ran over to Liger and König.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked as she ran up to them.

"Of course." König told her. "Just a little tired."

"Why did that attack affect König more than you?" Neji asked Liger.

"I can answer that." König interrupted. "Liger's Strike Laser Claw is the original. All others are derived from his. Naturally, mine is weaker."

"But it still packs a punch." Liger added.

"What was that robot?" Naruto asked.

"That was a Zoid Battle Commission Judge." Liger explained. "They officiate at every Zoid battle."

"How did it get here?" Tsunade asked.

"When we discovered your world, we found out that the first portal could only be made from space, since the "wall" between worlds is at it's weakest in space. So, we used a Battle Commission Judge Satellite to make the jump. Once here, it launched a special probe that synced with an identical one in our world. That was what created the portal on the planet that we used." he told them.

"What did he mean by Battle Mode 0992?" Shikamaru questioned.

This time it was König who answered. "Every Zoid battle has a battle code. There are six regular official Modes. 0982 means you can only fight with a stipulated number of Zoids, and there are no restrictions on weapons and arsenals. This is the most common battle type. 0983 is pretty much the same as 0982; I'm not sure what the difference is. 0988 is an old fashioned shoot out limited to long range weapons. Each combatant only gets six shots a piece, so the only way to win this battle is to take out the opposing team with the six shots you have, or to draw them into close-rage combat. 0973 limits the battle to Zoids that are not airborne, and they often take place in confined areas. 0990 is basically, no restrictions on anything, but there are a few safety rules. And finally, the one we used, 0992, is a one-on-one match with no restrictions whatsoever on weapons and arsenals."

"So there are different sets of rules for different battle scenarios." Kakashi summarized.

"That's pretty much it." Liger confirmed.

"While that was a lot of fun, the Village can't go without a Hokage forever, so let's get back." Tsunade told them all. She lead the way back to the Village, while everyone that wasn't present yesterday got to meet König and talk about the battle.

**A/N: There you go! A little filler-brand treat for all my readers! Sorry it's not as long as some of the previous chapters, but this is just to introduce König's true form and to introduce her to the other characters. It also provides a little more detail about how the Zoids got to the ninja world. The main plot of Part 2 is coming up soon. Let me know what you think of this chapter (and the story thus far)!**


	13. Starry Night

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 13: Starry Night – Team Nova!**

As they returned to the Village, Tsunade asked Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Anko, Liger, and König to follow her to her office. When they arrived, she had them sit in chairs that were arranged in a half-circle around the desk

"I asked the six of you to come here for a special reason." Tsunade began. "After the Red Viper Invasion, the Five Kage decided that each of the five Villages needed to create a special team to counter the Vipers. So, I've selected the six of you for the job."

"Why us?" Anko asked.

"I selected you because you each have certain abilities that will come in handy. Anko, your snake summons will be drawn to the Vipers, who as their name suggests, are affiliated with snakes. Kakashi, your tracking, infiltration, and assassination skills will also help you to find them. Naruto, your Sage Mode will be a great asset in fighting large numbers of Vipers at once. Sakura, the team will need a medic and you're the best I have. Besides, Naruto wouldn't go without you, would he?"

At this, Naruto and Sakura both turned away, blushing.

"I didn't think so." Tsunade continued. "Liger and König, the two of you will need to go in case there are enemies too strong or too numerous for the four of them alone."

"Are you sure six is enough?" Liger asked.

"I can't afford too many ninja in case there's another invasion." Tsunade answered.

"But what if there is and you need one of us back here?" Kakashi questioned.

"I think Liger would be able to handle that problem." Sakura answered, thinking about the Jager armor.

"Any more questions?" Tsunade inquired. No one had any. "Very well. Now, I want the six of you to get in some training as a team. Your first mission won't be a hunting one; I want you to have a somewhat easy mission so you can get a feel for the team dynamics. Kakashi, you're in charge with Anko as your second. König, congratulations, you're officially a Konoha mercenary."

Tsunade opened a drawer on her desk and withdrew a patch identical to Liger's. She handed it to König, who thanked her before putting the patch in her pocket.

"And finally, congratulations Naruto and Sakura. The two of you are now Special Jonin."

"What?" they asked simultaneously.

"I'll have Shizune bring in your vests. They're specially made just for your team." Tsunade told them. "Shizune!"

The door opened and Shizune walked in carrying three Jonin vests and a jacket. She handed the jacket to Anko and passed out the vests to Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.

"These are special vests that symbolize your new team. You are all officially members of Konoha's Team Nova!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi examined their new vests. They were the same design as the regular vests. The coloring was what was different. Dark blue replaced the forest green of the original Konoha vests and the pockets were black. On the back was the image of a six-pointed star in black.

"They're dark for when stealth is required." Tsunade explained. "Which leads me to ask you," she said turning to Liger and König, "do you have dark-colored clothes for stealth missions?"

"Yes, we can switch to what we call Moonlight-Mode." Liger told her. He and König stood and moved away from the desk so that they each had about a three-foot radius around them. A dark-blue light began to emanate from their bodies until it completely enveloped the pair. When the glow faded, the ninja got to see the Moonlight-Mode.

Liger's jacket and boots were now a pitch-black that matched his pants. His hair was now a dark yellow as opposed to its usual blond. König's clothes and hair changed the same way.

"How's this?" Liger asked.

"Perfect." Tsunade told them. "You two continue to amaze me."

"Thanks." König told her.

She and Liger then began glowing light blue and when the glow faded, they were back to their normal clothes and hair.

"That's everything." Tsunade concluded. "Go train for the rest of the day and you'll start your mission tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am!" the team chorused.

"Dismissed!"

* * *

A half-hour later found the six at Team Kakashi's training ground. They had taken the time to retrieve necessary gear. Once they were all present, they sat down in a circle.

"How do you want to do this, Kakashi?" Anko asked getting straight to the point.

Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to give Liger and Konig a little test."

"What kind of test?" Liger asked.

"I'm sure Naruto and Sakura can tell you." Kakashi answered as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a pair of small bells.

"You've got to be joking, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled when she saw them. "You can't torture them like that!"

"You have to try to get the bells off of him in a certain time-limit." Naruto explained.

"And you have to come at me with the intention to kill me, otherwise you won't suceed." Kakashi finished.

"What about the rest of us?" Anko questioned.

"I have a suggestion." Naruto said.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

"I want to practice my Sage mode, so why don't I do that and Sakura-kun can train with Anko-sama." Naruto told them.

"What kind of training?" Anko inquired.

"I actually have an idea." Sakura said.

"Let's have it." Anko said.

"I kept that wolverine that tried to steal that scroll." Sakura explained. "Tsunade told me to keep it after she found out that the Red Vipers had sent it. Maybe you could help me break the Viper's control over it and turn it into a Summon for me."

"Go get it." Anko told her. "We'll see what we can do."

As Sakura left to pick-up the wolverine, Naruto made his way to the middle post in the trio. Meanwhile, Kakashi, Liger, and König were standing across from each other in the middle of the field.

"The goal of this exercise is to see how well the two of you work together." Kakashi explained.

"We just have to get the bells?" König asked.

"That's it." Kakashi confirmed. "Now, begin!"

Kakashi disappeared into the woods in a blur; fast, but traceable.

"Shall we show him what we can do?" Liger said.

"You bet." König responded.

The two of them raced into the forest after Kakashi. König was the first to pick up his trail, her sense of smell and hearing picking up on Kakashi's movements. After she led Liger a few feet closer, he picked up on the trail as well. König took the lead as she charged at a tree and slammed her fist into it. The tree shattered under the force of the hit. Liger, right behind König, dove through the splinters and slammed his fist into Kakashi's chest as the Jonin tried to leap away. It was gentle enough to not kill Kakashi, but strong enough to knock the wind out of him. As Kakashi hit the ground, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A clone." Liger observed.

"He's good, but he still can't hide from us." König told him, having once again picked up Kakashi's trail.

* * *

As Kakashi worked with the Zoids, Sakura returned to the field with an unconscious wolverine in her arms.

"That's an impresive killing machine." Anko observed.

"That's why I want him on our side." Sakura told her.

"Well, let's see what we can find out." Anko said as Sakura sat down and placed the wolverine on the ground in between them.

Anko ran her hands along the animal's back, belly, sides, head, limbs, and tail. Her search was successful, for she found a small tag on each of the creature's paws. Using a kunai, Anko cut the four tags off. Then Sakura applied a little bit of her healing chakra to the areas, then to the base of the wolverine's head. A few seconds later, the animal regained consciousness. It opened its eyes, revealing royal blue orbs that looked amazing against the black fur.

"Where am I?" the wolverine asked.

"You can talk?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Of course I can. All ninja wolverines can." was the response.

"Well, that solves one problem." Anko chuckled. "So, you got a name, furball?"

"I am Arin, my lady." the wolverine answered as it bowed its head towards the two women.

"There's no need for that, Arin." Sakura told him. "As for your question, you're in the Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha. My name is Sakura and this is Anko."

"If I am no longer captive in the Hidden Sound Village, then I am indebted to both of you." Arin said.

"Actually, Sakura is the one that rescued you." Anko said. "I just helped her break the control tags."

"If I can be of service to you, Lady Sakura, then please do not hesitate to ask." Arin told her.

"Actually," Sakura responded, "I was hoping that you could become my partner in battle."

"Of course, Lady Sakura." Arin agreed.

"Now you just need to sign the contract." Anko said.

"There is no contract." Arin said. "Ninja wolverines use a different system. Shinobi can only be partnered with one chosen wolverine, but the wolverine does not leave its master."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"We become weapons, always by our master's side until we are needed in normal form." Arin answered. "Hold out your hand."

Sakura complied and Arin jumped into the air. As he leapt, he transformed in a small burst of black smoke. Sakura felt something land in her hand, and when the smoke cleared she saw what it was. Arin had become a sword. The sword was the size of a traditional double-edged sword. The hilt was black; the handle wrapped with wolverine skin. The pommel was topped with a small version of Arin's tail, about three inches long. The four-armed crossguard was also black and each arm was tipped with a wolverine claw. The blade itself was a royal blue, the same color as Arin's eyes.

"Incredible!" Sakura exclaimed. She stood and waved the sword around a bit, feeling the fine balance of the weapon. Then she tossed the sword into the air and it turned back into Arin.

"Cool trick." Anko commented as the wolverine landed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Liger and König were closing in on Kakashi. Several more near misses resulted in Kakashi running low on chakra, since his Sharingan was fully active. He hadn't even made a counter attack because of Liger and König's relentless assault.

"_I have to think of something before I run out of chakra_." Kakashi thought to himself as he hid behind another tree. He could sense Liger and König closing in on his position when they suddenly stopped.

"_What are they up to_?"

"Let's use a slipstream." König whispered to Liger. "He's exhausted, so he won't be able to dodge as quickly as he was before."

"Alright." Liger agreed. "I'll take point. Are you going around or over?"

"Over." she told him. "I can get more height."

Kakashi was trying to figure out what they were going to do when he suddenly felt Liger's energy spike and König's disappeared.

"_Where did she go? I didn't think they would split up. Guess their teamwork isn't so great_."

Suddenly, he sensed Liger charge the tree. Rather than use his chakra on a clone, he decided just to leap away, figuring that Liger would need to recover from going through the tree. As he leapt into the air backwards, he saw Liger crash right through the tree. Kakashi smirked at his own success in guessing the plan. His triumph was short lived, however. As soon as Liger was through the tree, König launched off of Liger's back, flying straight towards Kakashi. He didn't even have time to make a substitution as the girl slammed into him in a fierce tackle. They crashed to the ground and she pinned him. He tried to escape, but she held tight. Then he found out that it was pointless. König was clenching the bells in her teeth, grinning at the trapped Jonin. Liger walked over and helped König up as she took the bells from her mouth.

"Looks like we win." Liger said.

"Yes, you definitely passed." Kakashi admitted.

The three of them walked back to the clearing to find Naruto still meditating, while Sakura, Anko, and Arin were watching Naruto.

"How'd they do?" Anko asked.

"They passed with flying colors." Kakashi told her. "Or in this case, flying girls."

"What does that mean?" Sakura questioned.

"I tackled him in mid-air to get the bells." König answered.

Then Naruto, having ceased his meditation, walked over.

"I think we're definitely ready." Naruto announced.

"Are you sure about that?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, you two can work well with almost anyone." Naruto told Kakashi and Anko. "Sakura and I were on the same team from the start, and we're in a relationship, so of course we work well together. And these two," he said gesturing to Liger and König, "are also teammates."

"And in a relationship, I'm sure." Anko said slyly, causing Liger and König to turn bright red.

"That obvious?" Liger muttered.

"Yep." Anko replied, grinning.

"There you go, Kakashi." Naruto continued. "You have two teams that you know work well together. And the four of us can work well together I'm sure. This Team Nova will work out great!"

"Very well." Kakashi said. "That concludes today's training. Now let's all get some sleep, and we'll begin our first mission tomorrow. Dismissed!"

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've been having fun with computer programs. And I wanted to get some work done on other stuff. Let me know what you think of the new story elements from this chapter. And what you think of the chapter itself. Thanks for all the support!**

**p.s. I forgot to add the description of Tenten's technique when she used it in chapter 5. So you can head back there and check it out.**


	14. Escort

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 14: ****Escort – Team Nova's First Mission!**

The sun had already risen as Naruto met Sakura at her home. They walked together to the Hokage tower to get briefed on their mission, holding hands as they walked. Upon their arrival at Tsunade's office, they found Kakashi leaning on the wall outside the office.

"You're here, on time?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes he is." Shizune said walking up to them. "I made sure of that."

"Hope I'm not late for the party." Anko said as she walked up behind Shizune.

"Actually, you're not even the last one here." Sakura told her.

"Huh?" Anko questioned as she looked at everyone who was there. "Where are Liger and König?"

"They'll be here soon I'm sure." Kakashi said. "Let's go ahead in. We can catch the two of them up when they get here."

He knocked on the door. Then, after Tsunade told them to come in, they entered the office…and found Liger and König sitting across from Tsunade.

"Guess you were the last one." Naruto said to Anko.

"When did the two of you get here?" Sakura asked.

"About ten minutes ago." Liger answered as the four shinobi walked in and sat down around the desk. "We've been waiting for you guys."

"Now that we're all here, we can get started." Tsunade began. "As you know, this Red Vipers situation is a big problem. So we're bringing in some help. Your mission is to meet that help in Amegakure to escort their ninja here."

"How many will we be escorting?" Kakashi asked.

"Just one." Tsunade answered.

"That's not much help." Anko said.

"This one is special, I think she'll be a great help."

"She?" Sakura questioned.

"Yes, I believe Naruto knows who I'm talking about." Tsunade said.

"Konan." was all Naruto said.

"Correct." Tsunade said.

"But isn't she the leader of Ame?" Naruto asked, "Shouldn't she stay there and lead it.

"Well, she told me in her letter that she wasn't much for politics, so she left control of the village to an advisor. She also wants to come here to help you fight Akatsuki and the Red Vipers."

"I thought she was Akatsuki." Anko interrupted.

"No, she was merely following Nagato." Naruto told her. "She's my friend now."

"Then it's settled." Tsunade concluded. "You leave in fifteen minutes. Dismissed!"

* * *

Four hours later found Team Nova approaching Amegakure. However, they did not enter the Village for they were stopped at the gates by a tornado of paper. Then the paper coalesced into the form of a woman.

"Hello, Konan-sama." Naruto said to the woman, smiling.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Konan replied, also smiling. "This must be Team Nova." she said to the whole group.

"Yes ma'am." Kakashi responded. "I am Team Nova's leader and Secondary Tracker, Kakashi Hatake."

He bowed and then stepped back as the rest of the team introduced themselves.

"Anko Mitarashi: Second-in-Command and Primary Tracker of Team Nova."

"Sakura Haruno: Medic and Primary Defensive Unit"

"Liger Zero: Scout, Messenger, and Primary Offensive Unit."

"König the Wolf: Scout, Sniper, and Secondary Offensive Unit."

"And you know me, Naruto Uzumaki: Primary Offensive and Secondary Defensive Unit."

"Well, this seems like quite the team." Konan observed after the last introduction was made.

"Thanks, Konan-sama." Naruto told her. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"Not so fast, Naruto-kun." Konan interrupted. "We have something to do first."

* * *

Konan led the team through the forest surrounding the village. She still didn't say where they were going; only that it was a surprise. After about fifteen minutes of walking, they came upon a small shrine. It was fairly simplistic. Only about four feet tall, the shrine was cubical in shape with a peaked roof. There was a pair of doors on the front. The shrine was dark navy on the sides and the roof was black as were the doors.

"This is what we're here for." Konan told the group.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"I will show you." Konan answered as she knelt down in front of the shrine. She focused a little bit of chakra into her hands and allowed it to flow into the doors. A few seconds later, the doors swung open. Konan reached inside and withdrew a small chest.

"These are going to help us defeat the Red Vipers." she said as she placed the chest on the ground and opened it. Inside were five large white jewels.

"These are sacred jewels that allow a shinobi to release their limitations and become exponentially more powerful." Konan explained.

"Limitations?" Sakura questioned.

"Yes." Konan responded. "They increase chakra capacity greatly and allow a shinobi to use their chakra to its fullest potential."

"But there's only five." Anko pointed out.

"König and I don't use chakra so we don't have those limitations." Liger told her.

"Exactly." Konan said. "One thing though, these jewels have to accept you first. You cannot just use any one that you want.

"How do we know which one will accept us?" Anko asked.

"Allow your spiritual chakra to flow into your hand and hold it loosely above the chest." Konan answered.

Anko did as she was told. She concentrated his chakra into his hand and held it over the jewels, but nothing happened. Anko felt disappointed and her face showed it.

"You have to use more chakra." Konan told her. "You need to use enough that it becomes visible."

"Oh!" Anko responded, brightening again.

She tried again, but this time she focused a lot more chakra into her hand until a dark purple glow enveloped her hand. Then, the jewel that was the second from the left began to glow the same color.

"_That must be the one_." Anko thought to herself as she picked up the jewel. Suddenly, she felt a jolt throughout her whole body. Then the jewel shrank and turned into a glowing purple ring.

"Now slide the ring onto your finger." Konan told her.

She did as she was told, and then stepped back to let Sakura take her turn. Sakura's normal green chakra enveloped her hand, before turning bright pink.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"I can answer that one." Kakashi said. "Chakra, as you know, is made up of spiritual and physical energy. These jewels respond to and draw out that spiritual energy and then convert it into spiritual chakra. It's a Jonin-level concept, so you and Naruto wouldn't have learned it yet."

"But why is it pink?" Sakura asked.

"That is your spiritual energy's color." Konan answered. "It usually matches your hair color."

"Oh, okay." Sakura said as she returned to the chest. As she held her hand above the jewels, the far left jewel began glowing pink as well. She picked up the jewel, and was wearing a glowing pink ring a few moments later. As she stepped back, Kakashi took his turn, and was soon wearing a glowing silver ring.

"Ladies first." Naruto said to Konan.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." she responded.

Her ring was blue. Finally, it was Naruto's turn. As he held his hand above the last jewel, his hand was enveloped in blue chakra, which quickly turned gold. Suddenly, his hand felt like it was on fire as the gold chakra was replaced by blood red chakra.

"What's happening?" Sakura asked, afraid for Naruto's safety as she saw him wince in pain.

"The fox is influencing his spiritual energy." Kakashi realized. "You have to fight it Naruto!"

Naruto's eyes were screwed shut in pain, but he couldn't tear his hand away. His eyes flew open and revealed the Kyuubi's eyes to everyone. However, the eyes didn't stay red long, before changing back to blue, and then they were back to red again. Red, blue, red, blue his eyes flashed back and forth as he fought to subdue the fox. In sync, the chakra on his hand flashed back and forth between red and gold.

"_What fox are they talking about? What's going on?_" Liger and König were each trying to answer these questions.

Sakura knelt down beside Naruto and wrapped her arms around him. She could feel the raging chakra battling inside of him. The power was immense. But, as she held him, his own chakra began to force the Kyuubi's back. However, no one expected what happened next.

Naruto's eyes turned back to normal and darkened, turning to a very dark shade of blue. The chakra around his hand also turned navy blue. Then his eyes made another change. Instead of looking normal, his eyes turned completely dark blue, except for the pupil. The pupil instead turned silver, and then became slit-like. The last jewel began to glow the same color as the chakra as Naruto picked it up. As he held the jewel, his whole body was enveloped in the ominous chakra. Sakura let go of his and stood back, still worried about Naruto. Then, as quickly as it came, the dark blue chakra faded, and the jewel turned into a ring, which Naruto slipped on. As he stood and faced them, his eyes also turned back to normal.

"What just happened?" Anko asked, voicing everyone's confusion.

**A/N: Sorry that was so short. I only meant for this to bring Konan into the story and set up the next chapter, which I fear will also be short. However, the chapters after that should more than make up for it. This is part of my Christmas present to you all, which will also include a sneak peek at my next fanfic, **_**Iron Shadow**_**. You can check out that sneak peek in my profile. Unfortunately, it's only a sneak peek, because **_**Iron Shadow **_**won't officially start until **_**Passages in Time**_** is finished, which won't be much longer. Let me know what you think of this chapter and of **_**Iron Shadow**_**. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! **


	15. Jinchuriki's Power

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 15: ****Jinchuriki's Power – Legacy of the Tailed Beasts!**

Recap: _Naruto's eyes turned back to normal and darkened, turning to a very dark shade of blue. The chakra around his hand also turned navy blue. Then his eyes made another change. Instead of looking normal, his eyes turned completely dark blue, except for the pupil. The pupil instead turned silver, and then became slit-like. The last jewel began to glow the same color as the chakra as Naruto picked it up. As he held the jewel, his whole body was enveloped in the ominous chakra. Sakura let go of his and stood back, still worried about Naruto. Then, as quickly as it came, the dark blue chakra faded, and the jewel turned into a ring, which Naruto slipped on. As he stood and faced them, his eyes also turned back to normal._

"_What just happened?" Anko asked, voicing everyone's confusion._

No one answered Anko. Frustrated, she spoke again.

"Am I the only one who has no idea what's going on?"

Kakashi was the one who finally answered her.

"The fox's chakra has been suppressed, but how? And what was it replaced with?"

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, hearing nothing from her teammate. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan." he answered. "I just feel a little drained."

As if to punctuate his sentence, Naruto suddenly collapsed, but was caught by Liger.

"Easy, man." Liger told him as he shifted Naruto to his back. "Looks like you're not walking back under your own power. I'll carry you."

"Thanks." Naruto said.

"Sure thing. Let's get going." Liger said to the rest of the group.

* * *

A short time later found the group leaping through the trees towards Konoha. During the week between the battle with the Red Vipers and König's arrival, Liger spent time with Kakashi getting the hang of tree-running. After passing on the knowledge to König, the entire group was able to travel to Konoha at full speed. Currently, Kakashi and Anko were leading the group, followed by Konan. Sakura was behind her with König, Liger, and Naruto, still on Liger's back, bringing up the rear.

"Hey, Naruto." Liger said, deciding that the trip would be a good time to ask the question that had been bugging him ever since the day after he met the ninja.

"What's up?" Naruto asked, not quite up to running under his own power.

"What was that red chakra you used that day when we were first attacked by the Vipers?"

Naruto sighed; he had been expecting this. But before he could answer, König asked the other half of that question.

"And what does it have to do with the fox that Kakashi was talking about?" she asked.

"Well, it's a long story, so I hope you're ready for it." Naruto told them.

Liger and König both nodded, and the rest of the group dropped back so that they could hear Naruto's story.

"Well, 21 years ago, there was an attack on Konoha." Naruto began. "The village was attacked by a fearsome beast known as the Nine-Tailed Fox. It was a creature of tremendous power; its tails alone were said to be able to raise tidal waves and flatten mountains. The shinobi of the Village tried to defeat the fox and protect Konoha, but it was futile. The fox was just too strong. However, Konoha wasn't down for the count. The Fourth Hokage, my father, appeared on the battlefield with a baby in his arms. He sacrificed his life to seal the fox inside the baby. That baby was me."

"So you had a really powerful demon sealed inside of you for 21 years?" König asked.

"Yes." Naruto replied, expecting his friends to treat him differently. However, Liger's response surprised him.

"Nice work."

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, not expecting this answer.

"It can't be easy containing something like that." König told him.

"It shows how strong you are." Liger added.

"Thank you." Naruto said. "I'm glad you guys accept me for me, instead of as a demon."

"Well, you're far from a demon." König said. "But that can't be the end of the story."

"You're right." Naruto said before continuing. "Because I have the fox sealed inside me, I have access to his power, namely his chakra. That was the red chakra that you saw. As a "container" for one of the Tailed Beasts, I'm known as a Jinchūriki."

"Wait a second." Liger interrupted. "You said Beasts, plural. Are you saying that there're more of them?"

"Yes." Naruto confirmed. "There are a total of nine Beasts. The One-Tailed Shukaku, the Two-Tailed Monster Cat, the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, the Four-Tailed Great Ape, the Five-Tailed Demon Wolf, the Six-Tailed Thunder Weasel, the Seven-Tailed Giant Badger, the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox, and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

"And where are these other eight?" König asked.

This time it was Konan who answered.

"The first seven are sealed in a special statue." she said. "A shinobi from Kumo has the eighth, and Naruto has the ninth."

"The Beasts are being collected by an organization known as Akatsuki." Naruto explained. "It was originally made up of ten shinobi from different villages. There goal was to use the beasts to force world peace. Konan-sama was once a member."

"Only because Nagato formed Akatsuki." she added. "Nagato was the leader of Akatsuki and was my best friend since childhood. He sacrificed himself to save the lives of many people."

"Including me." Kakashi said.

"Back up." Liger interrupted as he thought of something. "Does this thing have access to your mind?"

"He's present in my mindscape, but he can only talk to me, send me nightmares, fuel my anger, and give me some of his chakra." Naruto answered.

"And he can only take control if you let him, right?" König asked, catching on to where Liger was going with this.

"Yes." Naruto said, surprised. "How did you know?"

"We had a similar situation on Zi." König explained. "Not the beast sealed inside of you, but the influence and control thing."

"Everybody stop for a minute!" Liger called to the group as he dropped out of the trees into a small clearing.

"What's the problem?" Kakashi asked as he, Anko, and Kakashi made their way over.

"Even though he's sealed, that fox should have a much more powerful influence on Naruto." Liger explained.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Well," König began, "the mind is a sensitive place. Its controlled actions are run by free will, which is not a physical force. The fox is a physical force, and as such, it should have a stronger influence than free will."

"But the seal prevents that from happening." Kakashi said.

"No." Liger told him. "The seal keeps him locked in there, but the fact that he can interact with Naruto at all means that the seal doesn't block his influence out. As a result, he should be able to control Naruto whenever he wants to. The fact that he can't is a problem."

"Why is that a problem?" Sakura questioned incredulously. "We should be happy that he can't control Naruto-kun!"

"It's a problem because, if the fox can't control Naruto, only influence him, than that means that the fox is under something's control." König explained.

"The fox is controlled, but indirectly now that he's sealed. Only the one controlling the fox could take over Naruto's mind since the fox himself isn't under his own control." Liger added.

"And since the control is indirect," Kakashi said, finally catching on to the problem, "the person can't make the fox control Naruto."

"Exactly. The fox can only control Naruto if the fox is under his own control. Since he's being controlled, he doesn't have that ability." König confirmed.

"This doesn't make sense!" Anko interrupted. "What are you talking about?" **(A/N: You're all probably thinking the same thing)**

"Somebody is controlling the fox." Kakashi said trying to summarize things for her. "Because the fox isn't under his own free will, he can't control Naruto. And whoever's controlling the fox can't make the fox control Naruto, because it has to be a direct interaction between the controller and the controlled."

"Okay. So we need to find out what's controlling the fox." Anko said, also catching on. "Then what?"

"We have to break the control." Liger answered.

"Won't that allow the fox to control Naruto-kun?" Konan asked.

"Only if we leave the fox loose." König said.

"So what are you going to do to it?" Naruto asked.

"Place it completely under your control." Liger said. "We need to do this right away, because whoever's controlling the fox knows right where it's at."

"That's how the Vipers found us." Naruto realized. "Someone in Akatsuki is controlling the fox!"

"We'll find out later. Let's deal with this now." Kakashi said.

"So how do we do this?" Anko asked.

"König and I will enter Naruto's mind and sever the connection to whoever's controlling the fox. Then we'll re-establish that control, only this time, Naruto will be on the other end." Liger explained.

"I'll come to incase we need to subdue the fox." Kakashi said. "I read the reports of how the Mangekyo Sharingan can subdue the fox temporarily. Hopefully I'll be able to do it."

"How are you three going to get into my mind?" Naruto asked. "I thought you needed the Yamanaka's mind jutsu to do this."

"Like I said, we've done this before." König told him. "We have our methods. Now lay down."

Naruto lay down in the grass and König knelt in the grass behind his head. Liger and Kakashi took similar positions to on either side. König closed her eyes, focused and then entered Naruto's mindscape, leaving her body kneeling in the grass. Liger followed suit, and then Kakashi used his Sharingan to enter after them.

"I hope they can do it." Sakura said.

"Don't worry." Anko told her with a smile. "They're at least pretending like they know what they're doing. And since I didn't understand half of what they said, I think they may be on to something."

* * *

Kakashi's vision went black, the a few seconds later, it returned. He found himself in a large, dark room. He was standing in a large pool of water with Liger and König standing next to him. Naruto was a few feet in front of them. Kakashi looked around, this being his first time in the seal room. The walls were covered in pipes, except for the one in front of him. This wall was completely taken up by a massive cage. The two doors of the cage were held shut by an elaborate seal.

Suddenly, the dark cage was illuminated by a pair of enormous red eyes that flew open. The space inside the cage began to glow an orange color, as the fox's chakra filled the cage. Then the eyes closed, and the water in front of them began bubbling. The orange bubbles rose up and formed the fox's head, front arms and shoulders. The red eyes opened again, this time outside of the cage.

"**Quite an achievement.**" the Kyuubi told them. "**Never before have I been seen here without that repugnant Sharingan. Very impressive.**"

Liger, who was unfazed by the demon's appearance, began to address the fox.

"We know you're being controlled." he said. "Now tell us. Who's controlling you?"

"**You speak boldly for one as insignificant as yourself.** **While I am here, I am not under the control of anyone except myself.**"

"And yet, you don't possess the ability to control Naruto." König told the fox, also unafraid.

"**Indeed. It seems we are at an impasse then. You wish to know the target of my wrath, while I wish for the chance to unleash my wrath. Unless I am released, then neither of us shall get want we want.**" the Kyuubi told them.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Liger said with a smirk. "This isn't negotiable."

"**You have no authority over me, sealed or otherwise.**"

"We'll see about that." Liger responded.

He walked forward, claws extending along the way. With one slash, he destroyed the "fox" that appeared outside of the cage. Then he continued, right up to the cage and went in inside.

"**Fool. Now you die!**" the fox roared as it slashed at Liger with one of its mighty paws.

"Down boy." Liger said as he raised one hand and blocked the strike, before batting the arm away. He walked right up to the seven foot tall fox, then reached up and grabbed the Kyuubi by the muzzle.

"Now then, let's break that control." Liger said.

His eyes began to glow golden as did his hands. Suddenly, the energy began to discharge straight into the Kyuubi. The mighty fox demon howled in pain as Liger let go of its muzzle. Despite the broken contact, however, the energy still coursed through the fox's body. After an agonizing few moments, the energy disappeared, and the fox collapsed. Its breathing was labored and its eyes were screwed shut in pain. Then, a mysterious red orb appeared from the box's body and floated up to eye-level.

"Naruto!" Liger called over his shoulder. "Get in here!"

Naruto wasted no time in racing to Liger and the fox, König and Kakashi right behind him. When they arrived, Naruto and Kakashi's eyes widened at the sight of the barely conscious fox.

"I thought it was bigger." Naruto commented.

"This is a symbol of the reduction of the fox's power by the seal." Kakashi explained.

The surprise turned into confusion when they saw the orb.

"Take that orb." Liger told Naruto. "It will establish the connection."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"You have to." König told him.

Naruto reached up and grabbed the red orb. The second he made contact, there was an explosion of chakra that blasted Liger, König, and Kakashi out of Naruto's mind. When they recovered, they found themselves back in the outside world. They discovered that Naruto's body was covered in the fox's chakra, and the chakra was growing more pronounced, forming the first tail. However, that wasn't the only surprise. As they looked around for the other three members of their group, they found Anko and Konan. The two women were not looking at Naruto, but at Sakura, who had collapsed.

Her body was also enveloped in red chakra.

**A/N: Another cliff hanger! Woot! Sorry this took so long, but I had to figure out how I wanted to do this chapter, which will lead up to a major plot element of part II. That element is the dark blue chakra from last chapter. Let me know what you think!**

**p.s. You all (well, most of you) asked, and soon you shall receive. Since I needed to do something special for this chapter (this being the half-way point) I think this is a good spot to let you know that I have decided to introduce at least two more Zoids. Unfortunately, you'll be somewhat disappointed to hear that they won't appear for a while. One will show up a few chapters into part III and the other won't appear until the last chapter. So, let the anticipation burn until then! **


	16. The Flower Blooms

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 16: ****The Flower Blooms – Nova Becomes International!**

Recap: _Naruto reached up and grabbed the red orb. The second he made contact, there was an explosion of chakra that blasted Liger, König, and Kakashi out of Naruto's mind. When they recovered, they found themselves back in the outside world. They discovered that Naruto's body was covered in the fox's chakra, and the chakra was growing more pronounced, forming the first tail. However, that wasn't the only surprise. As they looked around for the other three members of their group, they found Anko and Konan. The two women were not looking at Naruto, but at Sakura, who had collapsed._

_Her body was also enveloped in red chakra._

Liger and Kakashi were at her side in an instant. Liger placed his hands on her shoulders and started shaking her.

"Come on, Sakura!" he said loudly. "Wake up! Come on, wake up!"

"What's going on?" they heard from behind them. Naruto had regained consciousness.

"Try not to strain yourself, Naruto." König told him. "You'll need a little while to get back to normal."

"What's wrong with Sakura-chan?" he asked.

"We don't know." Konan answered. "Kakashi and Liger are trying to wake her up now."

"Let me see her." Naruto said as he shakily stood up.

Liger was still shaking her as Konan helped Naruto walk over. Naruto got down onto his knees next to Sakura.

"Naruto," Kakashi asked, "do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Yeah." Naruto said. "That's the fox's chakra. It must be from when I healed her. But why is it acting like this now?"

"I have a theory." Kakashi responded.

"What is it, Kakashi?" Anko asked.

"Well, the Kyuubi is the one who had the idea to transfer his chakra to Sakura." Kakashi explained. "Now, as soon as the Kyuubi came under Naruto's complete control, his chakra lashed out in retaliation. Both Naruto and Sakura were affected because they both had the Kyuubi's chakra. Like I said before, this is only a theory. But I think that the fox transferred part of his conscience to Sakura in the hopes of escaping Naruto's body."

"But wouldn't he just be trapped inside Sakura-chan then?" Naruto asked.

"No," Liger answered, catching on, "because the seal is on your body, not hers. So nothing would keep him from escaping."

"But it's alright now, since I'm in control, right?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"It should be, since you decide whether the fox escapes." Liger told him. "But we can't be completely sure until she wakes up."

"For now, we'll continue onward." Kakashi concluded. "Now that you're conscious, she shouldn't be out for much longer. But I fear that there may be more complications. We'll have to wait and see."

"But how are we going to get her back?" Anko questioned.

"I'll carry her." Naruto answered. "Simple as that."

With Liger's help, Sakura was placed on Naruto's back and secured by both Naruto and Sakura's headbands. As soon as this was done, the group took to the trees and resumed their journey back to Konoha.

* * *

Despite Kakashi's prediction, Sakura didn't wake up until they were approaching the village gates. As Naruto leapt through the trees within sight of the village, he felt Sakura begin to stir on his back.

"Naruto-kun, where are we?" she asked tiredly.

"We're just outside the village, Sakura-chan." he answered. "You've been asleep for a few hours now."

"What happened?"

"We're not quite sure. Hopefully, we're going to find that out."

Liger, hearing them converse, fell back so that he was running next to them. As Naruto continued, Liger took the chance to check on Sakura's condition.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Exhausted." she told him. "For some reason, I feel really drained."

"Well, that's to be expected." Liger told her. "I'm pretty sure you'll be like this for a little while, but it could be much, much worse."

"What do you mean?"

"You could be dead instead of exhausted."

"Oh. I guess you're right then." she agreed. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"Not sure." Naruto responded. "We're going to try to find out why the fox's chakra is still affecting you and how to get rid of it."

"What are you talking about?" she questioned.

"Remember when we were first attacked by the Red Vipers, and you and I were hit by those senbon?"

"Yes."

"Well, while you were still unconscious, I used the fox's chakra to heal you and remove the poison. Then, when Liger transferred control of the Kyuubi to me, his chakra lashed out. We were both knocked unconscious."

"So, I have the Kyuubi's chakra inside me?"

"Seems so. But don't worry, Sakura-chan, he can't hurt you since I'm controlling him. His chakra can only help you." Naruto explained.

A few moments later, the group dropped out of the trees as they entered the village gates. Kakashi went to get clearance from the gate guards while Liger helped get Sakura off of Naruto's back and onto her own feet. When Kakashi returned, they continued through the village to the Hokage Tower.

* * *

"And here we are." Kakashi told Tsunade as he finished telling her everything that happened on the mission.

"Well, sounds like you all had quite the journey." Tsunade commented. "Well, Konan-sama, what's your pla-?"

Suddenly she was interrupted by her office door slamming open. A brown-haired teenage boy rushed into her office and over to the desk

"AMERICA!!!" he yelled at the time of his voice in an exaggerated macho voice before slamming his elbow onto her desk three times. Then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What just happened?!?" Naruto questioned, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Don't worry about it." Tsunade told him. "That knucklehead comes in here and does that all the time. I've never been able to catch him. Anyway, as I was saying, what's your plan, Konan-sama?"

"I'm sorry to say that this is as far as I got in the planning stage." Konan told her, trying to not think about what had just transpired.

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to make it up as we go then." Tsunade said.

"Tsunade-sama?" Liger spoke up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was thinking about this Team Nova and what we're planning to use it for." Liger began.

"Go on." Tsunade acknowledged.

"I don't think the seven of us is enough. So, I think that we should expand this team into a full platoon. We would combine Konoha's Team Nova with the special teams from the other four Great Villages into one large group. I'm inclined to believe that the Red Vipers wouldn't attack more than one of the Villages at the same time; they don't have the manpower to stretch their forces like that. So, I believe that they will strike one Village at a time. Get in, take the village out, and then leave. This leads me to believe that they are trying to increase their forces in numbers and strength of individual units. We shouldn't let this opportunity slip away. As such, I propose the formation of an international counter-strike force."

"Very well. I'll send word to the other Kage." Tsunade told him. "Now, as for your "fox" problem, what's your plan for that?

"There's nothing we can do until the Kyuubi regains consciousness." Naruto told her. "He's still out like a light from having the control switched."

"Well, I'll trust you to take care of it as soon as you can." Tsunade concluded. "Dismissed!"

"Yes ma'am, Lady Tsunade!" the six chorused before leaving.

* * *

Two weeks went by before the Kyuubi regained consciousness. During that time, Team Nova continued training to keep in shape. This mainly involved Naruto teaching Sakura about the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. They discovered that it would not form a cloak like Naruto's since the chakra wasn't in the same body as the source. However, it still provided an increase in her chakra supplies as well as strengthening her jutsu. The biggest asset was the fast healing and recovery that the chakra provided. It would definitely help in a large battle.

Naruto was just finishing up a day's training by himself when he was suddenly pulled into his mindscape by a very irate fox. His body collapsed in the clearing as he was dragged in to meet with his "tenant".

"**What have you done, boy?**" the fox roared as Naruto landed in front of him.

"I brought you under control for once." Naruto responded.

"**You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you?**"

"I guess we'll find out, won't we? Now then, moving on to other things, what did you do to Sakura-chan?" Naruto demanded.

"**I have done nothing, foolish human. The healing of that wench was your doing.**"

"First off, don't ever refer to Sakura-chan that way." Naruto ordered. "Second, what do you mean, nothing? I only healed her. Why is _your_ chakra still in _her_ body?"

"**I don't know. It's never happened before. My only guess is that her body has accepted the chakra as a secondary source of strength. This would be triggered by a combination of the willpowers of survival instinct, fighting spirit, and love. Three things that she has in abundance.**"

"So what are we supposed to do about it?" Naruto asked.

"**There's nothing you can do. If my theory is correct, then her body will replicate and regenerate my chakra indefinitely to accent her fighting abilities. Even if she uses all of it, it will just replenish itself like the rest of her chakra.**" the fox explained.

"So it can't take over her body?"

"**No. I control my own chakra only if it is within my boundaries. That translates to your body.** **Now get out of here before I start giving you problems.**"

Naruto, not wanting to underestimate the fox, even under his control, returned to the outside world. Once there, he immediately raced off to tell the others what happened.

* * *

"So, I'm stuck with it?" Sakura asked after Naruto finished giving his explanation to the Team and the Hokage.

"As far as I can tell." Naruto told her.

"Oh well, maybe it won't be so bad." Sakura said as she sighed.

"Just be sure you're careful, Sakura." Tsunade warned her.

"Of course, Lady Tsunade." Sakura responded.

They heard a knocking at the door.

"Enter." Tsunade called out to the hallway.

Shizune entered the room and bowed to the group.

"The other teams are here, Lady Tsunade." she told them.

"Excellent. Escort them to Training Ground 65. We'll meet them there."

"Yes, ma'am!" Shizune said before bowing and leaving.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tsunade lead Team Nova onto the enormous field of Training Ground 65. Located about five-hundred yards west of the Village, the Training Ground hadn't seen much use since the Third Great War. Now however, it was being used as a staging area for the international counter-strike force. As they walked onto the field, they were greeted by the sight of several dozen ninja scattered among four large groups with a few smaller groups scattered around the area as well. Tsunade walked over to an open-sided command tent. Inside were a group of seven ninja. As they entered, the ninjas stood at attention and greeted the Hokage.

"Alright everyone, I'd like to introduce the last team: Konoha's Team Nova." Tsunade told the group. "They will be leading this whole company, so you'd better give them your respect. Now then, I'll turn things over to Kakashi Hatake, Leader of Team Nova."

"Thank you Lady Tsunade." Kakashi said as he stepped up to address the group. "As the Hokage told you, I am the leader of Team Nova as well as Secondary Tracker. My team is as follows:"

Each member of the team stepped forward as they were introduced and then stepped back.

"Anko Mitarashi: Second-in-Command and Primary Tracker of Team Nova."

"Sakura Haruno: Medic and Primary Defensive Unit"

"Liger Zero: Scout, Messenger, and Primary Offensive Unit."

"König the Wolf: Scout, Sniper, and Secondary Offensive Unit."

"Naruto Uzumaki: Primary Offensive and Secondary Defensive Unit."

After Naruto stepped back, Kakashi continued. "As you may be able to tell, each member of my team is at the top of their field. I personally guarantee it. Now then, I would like to get to know who my commanders are."

At this request, a brunette kunoichi wearing a Suna Jonin uniform stepped forward. She looked familiar, but Kakashi couldn't place the name with the face.

"I am Matsuri Sakyu, Leader and Primary Offensive Unit of Sunagakure's Team Nebula." she told them.

"_So that's who she is._" Kakashi thought to himself. "Nice to see you again, Lady Matsuri."

"Likewise, Kakashi-san." Matsuri replied as she stepped back.

The next forward was a dark-skinned shinobi wearing a white flak jacket and black pants. His vest was unzipped and his hair was short and black. His white headband identified him as a Kumo ninja.

"Toshiro Tenki, Leader, Primary Defensive, and Secondary Offensive Unit of Kumogakure's Team Stratos."

After him was a medium-length, black-haired shinobi from Iwa. He wore a pair of khaki pants and a brown flak jacket over a tan shirt.

"Shinji Boruda, Leader, Primary Tracker, and Secondary Defensive Unit of Iwagakure's Team Meteor."

Next was a beautiful blond kunoichi from Kiri. She was wearing a royal blue skirt and a matching tank top under her purple flak jacket. Her deep blue eyes seemed to pierce Kakashi as she studied him.

"Keiko Aoiumi, Leader, Primary Offensive Unit, and Secondary Medic of Kirigakure's Team Comet."

"Her hair and eyes are like yours." Sakura whispered to Naruto.

"Yeah, I noticed." Naruto whispered back.

Following Keiko was a tall, red-haired shinobi with a light-blue flak jacket over a white shirt that matched his white pants. His headband told Kakashi that he was from Taki.

"Kōzui Kasukēdo, Leader and Primary Offensive Unit of Takigakure's Team Neutron."

He gave way to a purple-haired kunoichi from Getsu. She wore a white skirt and matching tank-top which was underneath her silver flak jacket.

"Tsukibura Runa, Leader, Primary Defensive, and Primary Tracker of Getsugakure's Team Lunar."

Finally, the last shinobi to step forward was a man about Kakashi's height from a village Kakashi could only assume was the Legendary Hidden Sun Village. The shinobi had flat-top orange hair, a gold tank-top and matching pants along with his red flak jacket that matched his red headband. A rising (or setting, depending on your opinion) sun was engraved onto his headband.

"Denchi Hikari, Leader and Primary Offensive Unit of Taiyogakure's Team Solar."

"Alright then." Tsunade continued as Denchi stepped back. "I would like to make one last introduction. This is Konan Aoihana, former leader of Amegakure and now a Primary Offensive Unit for our battalion."

Konan stepped forward and bowed, then returned to her spot next to Kakashi.

"Now that the whole battalion is present, we're ready to launch our offensive against the Red Vipers. You will depart after a week of training."

"Lady Hokage!" Shizune interrupted as she ran into the tent.

"What is it?" Tsunade demanded.

"We just received a report that the remaining Sound forces are marching towards our present location. We believe they were sent to try to break apart the battalion." Shizune reported.

"Thank you, Shizune." Tsunade told her. "Well, it looks like you'll get your training in a baptism by fire. Your new orders are to intercept the Sound ninja in the plains north of Konoha. You must leave at once!"

"Yes ma'am." The group chorused.

"Alright, mobilize, Team…"

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, it was kind of a boring chapter to write, so I had trouble getting up the motivation. I would like to use this note to announce my next "contest". I would like each of my readers to submit a name for the battalion in a review. I will then pick the one I like the most and put it into the story. So get those creative minds going! And let me know what you think of the story while you're at it. Don't worry, this should, keyword is should, be the last boring chapter of the story. **

**I'm sure you're wondering about the whole "America!" thing. The story of that is a small group of guys in my class sometimes do that at random times (except for the smoke part, usually they just do it during freetime in class while sitting at their desks). It's really bizarre, but they're all a bunch of good guys. Anyway, I just threw that in there for some "comic relief".**

**I also want to let you guys know that I have created a special website to supplement my fanfiction. Just go to my profile and click on my homepage link. It has extensive details on all my stories, including pictures, OC biographies, and more. In addition, there's a page with all my favorite stuff in an in-depth biography (with pictures!) if you'd like to get to know me better. And there are links to my accounts on a few other websites. And to motivate you guys to check it out, I placed the "Liger Zero – Human Form" picture by Tc-Chan on there in The Fox and the Liger's section. It's the picture that inspired this story, so check it out!**


	17. Looming Threat

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 17: ****Looming Threat – Kabuto Appears!**

Recap: _"Lady Hokage!" Shizune interrupted as she ran into the tent._

"_What is it?" Tsunade demanded._

"_We just received a report that the remaining Sound forces are marching towards our present location. We believe they were sent to try to break apart the battalion." Shizune reported._

"_Thank you, Shizune." Tsunade told her. "Well, it looks like you'll get your training in a baptism by fire. Your new orders are to intercept the Sound ninja in the plains north of Konoha. You must leave at once!"_

"_Yes ma'am." The group chorused._

"_Alright, mobilize, Team…"_

"Alright, mobilize, Team Galaxy!" Tsunade ordered.

A collective "Hai, Hokage-sama!" sprang up from the assembled ninja before they started disappearing in their respective versions of the **Shunshin**. As Naruto, Sakura, and Konan disappeared as well, Kakashi took Liger by the shoulder as Anko did the same with König, both of whom were unable to **Shunshin**. As soon as they had a firm grip, Kakashi and Anko blurred out of existence, taking Liger and König with them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the assembled Sound armies arrived at the edge of an enormous field North of Konoha. The field was empty. Then Kabuto Yakushi dropped out of the trees and stood before his army. His face held an arrogant smirk.

"Feels like the welcoming committee is on its way." he announced as he picked up several chakra signatures approaching. He didn't have to wait long as six swirls of leaves formed in the middle of the field and revealed Team Nova.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Copy-Cat Kakashi." Kabuto said with a sneer. "I should have expected you to show up. And with Naruto-kun and Anko-chan as well." He ignored Sakura and the two zoids, dismissing them as unthreatening.

"Let's drop the small talk, shall we?" Kakashi replied. "It's just delaying your inevitable defeat, Kabuto-_san_."

"My, my, aren't we cocky?" Kabuto responded. "Very well, let's begin the slaughter!"

He dashed forward as soon as the words left his mouth, over two hundred Sound ninja immediately following suit. When Kakashi saw this, he couldn't help but smirk.

"_Oh there will be a slaughter alright_."

Kabuto didn't even make it halfway to Team Nova when over a dozen rocky pillars shot up from the ground in front of Team Nova. Then the pillars broke apart revealing Team Meteor. Kabuto and his army skidded to a halt as the Iwa shinobi were surrounded by dozens of geysers, whirlpools, sand plumes, and lighting bolts that revealed Teams Neutron, Comet, Nebula, and Stratos respectively. However, Kabuto _really_ lost a lot of confidence when he saw several orange and purple beams of light along with a tornado of paper revealing Team Solar, Team Lunar, and Konan.

"What's wrong, Kabuto-_kun_?" Konan asked with an eerie smile. "Lost your will to fight?"

"This was unexpected." Kabuto admitted with a frown, before switching to a smirk. "But it won't matter. Kill them all!" he commanded.

More afraid of Kabuto than of Team Galaxy, the entire army rushed forward.

"This is gonna be fun." Liger said with a grin as he summoned the Schneider Armor and charged.

"You're not getting all the fun." König responded as she too ran forward to meet the oncoming Sound nins.

"Shall we, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked as she pulled on her gloves.

"After you, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied.

They started after Liger and Konig and it wasn't long before the rest of Team Galaxy joined them. With Liger and Kabuto at the front of the opposing sides, the two armies slammed into each other and the sounds of battle quickly flooded the whole area.

* * *

"**Earth Style: Devouring Earth Jutsu**!" Shinji shouted after finishing the five hand signs. As the jutsu activated, several enormous earthen jaws erupted from the ground and snapped shut on a few Sound ninjas. Their comrades responded with a wave of shuriken and kunai, but Shinji was able to deflect them with an **Earth Style: Earth Dome Jutsu**. However, the dome wouldn't protect him from a large centipede that was summoned by one of the Sound Jonin. Just as the large bug was about to smash through the dome, Shinji heard a loud cry of "**Raging Tempest**!" He lowered the dome just in time to see a large whirlpool that was somehow filled with lightning overwhelm the centipede. The bug was fried by the lightning, and then washed away by the water, along with several enemy ninjas. When the whirlpool was gone, Shinji saw Keiko and Toshiro giving him a thumbs up. Keiko then turned and leapt away after the centipede's summoner as Toshiro went the opposite direction into a crowd of enemies. Shinji grinned before joining Toshiro.

* * *

Across the field, Tsukibura found herself battling alongside Anko. The Moon Jonin had a large, purple, crescent-shaped sword in her hand and was dancing through her opponents, slicing them to ribbons. Anko moved right alongside her, lashing out with a kunai at any Sound nin that Tsukibura missed.

"I must say, I've never fought alongside anyone from Getsu before." Anko told Tsukibura when they received a small break in the action.

"I can say the same for me and Konoha." Tsukibura responded as she took a moment to catch her breath. "Want to lead the next round?"

"Why not?" Anko answered as she fell into a battle stance and faced a group of oncoming foes. "**Fire Style: Inferno Serpent**!" she called out as she exhaled a large stream of fire that formed, as its name suggested, a fiery snake. The snake speeded across the field and slammed into the ninjas, instantly incinerating them.

"My turn." Tsukibura said. "**Blossom of the Shining Moon**!" She held her sword up to the sky and several beams of silvery light flashed out of the blade, killing every Sound ninja that it hit.

* * *

Naruto, who had initially been following Liger, soon stopped and changed course to help out Matsuri. He summoned a trio of **Shadow Clones**, two of which transformed into Demon Windmill Shuriken. Naruto and the remaining clone each took one of the shuriken and launched them towards Matsuri. The shuriken whipped around Matsuri in a tight circle, taking out the ninjas surrounding the Sand Jonin before dispersing in a burst of smoke along with the third clone.

"Thanks, Naruto-san." Matsuri told him.

"No problem, Matsuri-san." Naruto responded. "Gaara would kill me if anything happened to his girlfriend."

Matsuri's eyes widened at that.

"H-how d-did you know ab-bout th-that?" she sputtered.

"Temari told me last time she was here." Naruto answered with a grin. "Bye."

He leapt away and resumed his fight as Matsuri drew a tantō and began hacking into any enemy dumb enough to come within range of her fury.

"_Temari and I are going to have a long talk when I get back_." she vowed to herself.

* * *

Kōzui and Sakura were currently surrounded by over a dozen Oto-nins. Sakura was exhausted and the battle hadn't even been going on for more than ten minutes.

"Got any ideas?" she asked the Taki Jonin.

"One." Kōzui answered as he decapitated a Sound Chunin with a kunai. "I've heard that you can use your strength to create shockwaves in the ground. Can you do one right now?"

"How big?" she asked as she ducked an attack from an enemy before shoving him back.

"Just enough to get them all off the ground." he told her as he began to form hand signs.

"Alright." Sakura said as she concentrated her chakra into her hand. She then slammed her fist into the ground and released all of the chakra. The ensuing shockwave unbalanced the Oto shinobi before bouncing them about three feet into the air. Just as they reached the apex of their ascent, Kōzui finished the last hand sign.

"**Water Style: Reverse Waterfall Jutsu**!" he called out. Suddenly, a wall of water rocketed out of the ground around the two of them and slammed into the helpless Oto-nins. The water launched them high into the sky; over a hundred feet into the air before they started to fall back to earth. Sakura looked around for something to finish them off when she saw Konan using paper wings to evade her opponent's strikes. Sakura drew and then chakra-whipped a kunai that sped through the air before embedding itself deep into the head of Konan's opponent. Konan looked at her with a glare at having her kill stolen, but Sakura quickly placated the Ame Jonin.

Pointing into the sky, Sakura yelled to Konan, "Can you take care of that for us?"

Konan looked at the falling ninjas and assessed the situation in a fraction of a second before launching into the air. All sixteen Oto-nins were dead before they even hit the ground.

"I guess we'll call that even." Konan called to Sakura before returning to the battle.

* * *

Kakashi cursed his luck. No matter how many enemies he cut down, more would replace them.

"_I need a good area Jutsu if I'm ever going to get through this and move on to Kabuto_." Kakashi thought to himself. But just as he started to go over his arsenal of Jutsu, he heard someone beat him to it.

"**Fire Style: Ring of Fire Jutsu**!"

As the technique's name suggested, a large circle of flames dropped from the sky and incinerated two scores of enemies around Kakashi. The Copy-Cat had a fairly good idea about who was behind the Fire attack and his assumption was confirmed when Denchi landed next to him.

"Flashy and effective." Kakashi complimented. "I like it."

"Just like the sun herself." Denchi told him. "Beautiful, yet mighty. That's Taiyo's way of doing things."

"I've heard rumors that you guys existed, but I've never even met one of you, much less seen your village." Kakashi mentioned.

"I'm not surprised, Kakashi." Denchi responded. "We mostly stayed out of this continent's business ever since our founding. "But our new Taiyokage decided that we needed to get more involved with the world."

"Well, I'm glad you're here, regardless." Kakashi said. "If you guys weren't here to help, this would be a good bit harder."

"Every little bit helps." Denchi agreed as he ran through another set of hand seals.

"**Fire Style: Solar Wind Jutsu**!"

A wispy, almost translucent, wave of orange fire burst from Denchi's hands and tore across the battlefield, burning over a score of enemies to a charred crisp.

* * *

Liger and König almost seemed to be dancing through the hordes of Sound shinobi. The Schneider blades cut through bodies like a plasma torch through butter and König's claws were raising the body count by the dozen. The two Zoids came to a break in the action and took a moment to catch their breath.

"I've never done anything like this." König commented.

"You mean taken a life?" Liger asked.

"Yeah," König confirmed, "and definitely not on this scale."

"Don't let it get to you." Liger reminded her. "Just remember that if we don't do this, then our friends may get hurt or worse."

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier."

"Nor should it. But what it should do is give you justification and motivation."

"You're right." König agreed. She then saw another wave of enemies rushing towards them, this one bigger than the first.

"We need to take care of that Kabuto guy, but these pawns are standing in our way." Liger commented.

"And they look stronger than that last group." König added. "We need to kick this up a few notches I think."

"Well, you know what we always say."

"Yeah, float like a Pteras."

"And sting like a Raynos." Liger finished, before the tow of them raced back into the battle.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"We need to attack them again." Sasuke growled from his seat against the cave wall.

"But, Sasuke-kun, how can we beat them without Suigetsu and Jugo?" Karin asked.

"Those fools were weak enough to die, so they were worthless." Sasuke responded. "And don't question my power unless you want to end up the same way."

"Forgive me, Sasuke-kun. I'll remember my place."

"See that you do." he responded.

"My, my Sasuke. Can't you control your little friend?" a familiar voice asked from the shadows.

Sasuke's eyes widened before he leapt to his feet, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan and drawing his katana. Karin joined him, drawing a kunai.

"Now, now, Sasuke." the voice scolded. "That's no way to treat an old friend."

"Make no mistake," Sasuke growled out, "we were never friends, Kisame."

* * *

_Back to the Battle_

After a long and bloody hour, the Sound forces were finally down to a few of the toughest and most durable Shinobi. Team Galaxy had only suffered a few casualties, none of them fatal or even crippling; a testament to the organization's might. The once green field was now a complete wreck: what little grass remained was either scorched, waterlogged, or stained red. The Kumo and Iwa teams had turned a good portion of the field into a rocky deathtrap, while the Suna team created a mini desert, also largely blood-stained. However, despite the imminent victory, all of Team Galaxy was completely exhausted. In fact, all that was still able to put up a decent fight was the eight team leaders, the two Zoids, Naruto, Sakura, and, surprisingly, most of Team Solar. Kakashi had to retire from the battle a short time ago due to overuse of his Sharingan. Anko was suffering from chakra exhaustion, so she got a head start on the interrogation of prisoners. And Konan had to stop because all of the blood that covered her body, though none of it her own, was making it hard to properly use her paper, so she switched to a reserve position.

As everyone stopped to take stock of the situation, Naruto found himself with the opportunity he had been waiting for: a shot at Kabuto. He called Liger over and quickly whispered his plan to the Zoid.

"You think you can get me a clear path to Kabuto?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Liger questioned.

"I'll leave that up to you, I just need to get to him without too much hassle. He's been engaged by Denchi, Keiko, Konan, and Anko over the course of this battle and every time he's had a lackey to sacrifice in order to escape." Naruto explained. "I want you to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Unfortunately, he has a mud dome around him that will make this a little bit harder. He created it earlier, and from the looks of it, the thing is really tough, but I don't think it's for anything other than offense. But I don't want to waste my time and chakra with it and he'll escape while I'm busy destroying it."

"Alright, I think I have the perfect plan." Liger told him, before looking over his shoulder to his fellow Team Nova members. "König, Konan! Come here a sec!"

"What's up?" König asked as the two came over.

"We have a plan to finish this now." Liger told the two women.

"What do you need from us?" Konan asked.

"Well, for starters, do you think you'd be able to not only fly, but fly with a passenger?" Liger asked her.

"I think I have one more flight in me." the origami master responded.

"Good, here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

When everyone was finally in place, König surveyed the battlefield to locate her targets. The remaining six Sound shinobi were in a defensive formation around Kabuto's dome. They were prepared for any attack from Team Galaxy. Well, all but one.

From their position at the top of the tallest tree within range of Kabuto and the Sound nins, Konan watched in confusion as König withdrew from her bag a pair of long, slim metal pipes that were joined together. They had an odd mechanism on the back end. A short, cylindrical object was attached to the top of the mechanism.

"König, what is that thing?" Konan asked.

"This is called a Dual-Barreled Sniper Rifle and the thing on top is called a targeting scope." the Zoid replied as she looked through the cylinder and began to take aim.

"And what does it do?"

"This." was all König said before pulling on a small lever at the bottom of the rifle. A loud bang sounded from the rifle as a short beam of light rocketed out of the end of the barrel and covered the distance to the target in seconds. The Sound shinobi were shocked when the head of one of their own exploded in a spray of blood. Back in the tree, König quickly adjusted her aim and fired off another five shots. Within seconds of the first shot, all six enemies were dead.

"My word…" was all Konan could manage.

* * *

When the sixth body hit the ground, Liger and Naruto began their part of the operation.

"Alright, that's the last one, let's go!" Liger shouted to his partner.

"Right!" Naruto responded as they began running towards Kabuto's dome. A **Shadow Clone** popped into existence and began forming a **Rasengan **in Naruto's hand as Liger started running faster and took the lead. He brought his two blades up to his sides as he activated the systems for his most powerful attack. The blades on his cheeks and forearms swung forward and they, along with the fifth blade on the back of his head and the two swords, began to glow a bright blue color. When he got close to the dome, Liger activated his booster and dove through the air towards the dome. He then began to spin, with all of his blades facing forward. Naruto saw the attack and was reminded of the Inuzuka's **Fang Over Fang**.

"SEVEN BLADE ATTACK." he shouted before tearing right through the dome and right through Kabuto's left arm. The Sound medic ground his teeth together in pain as his dome crumbled around him. However, his arm was about to become the least of his problems. Naruto followed Liger with a large **Rasengan** which he slammed into Kabuto's head, instantly sending Orochimaru's former subordinate right into the depths of the abyss.

As Kabuto's body dropped to the ground, Naruto had to sit down as all of his chakra usage had finally caught up to him. Liger walked over and after jettisoning the Schneider armor, joined the blonde on the ground.

"Wow, what a way to spend the afternoon, huh?" the Zoid asked.

"Yeah, you said it." Naruto agreed as he lay back in the grass.

After a few minutes, they got back up and rejoined the rest of Team Galaxy at the makeshift staging area. About ten minutes later, Tsunade entered the tent and addressed the group.

"Well done everyone." Tsunade began. "You've exceeded expectations and eliminated one of the strongest sources of opposition. However, this campaign is far from over. But for now, rest up and once you're at full strength, you're moving out again."

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've been busy with DeMolay stuff and vacation. What'd you think of my version of Ali's famous quote? (It just came to me, I don't know why or from where). **

**First off, credit for the name "Team Galaxy" goes to ****CartoonTeamAuthorAri****. Congratulations! **

**Second thing, I would like to announce a new poll on my profile. Earlier I announced that two new Zoids were joining the story in Part 3. Due to the popularity of this story and from comments in reviews, I've decided that there will be **_**4**_** new Zoids coming in Part 3. One is already set in stone and won't appear until the end, but the other three are the focus of this poll. So, if there's a particular Zoid you wanted to see in the story, then perhaps it's one of the many Zoids on the poll. So check it out, and vote for your favorite three Zoids from the list. The top vote getters will obviously be the ones to join the story. One note though, (cause I'm sure I'll hear about this) the "character specific" Zoids are only from New Century Zero because that is the main focus of the crossover. Ergo, the Zoids on the poll are a mix of New Century Zero alumni and several of my personal favorite Zoids. **

**So be sure to vote on the poll, review this chapter and/or the whole story, and thanks as always for all the support!**

**Here is a guide to this chapter's Saberdragon-original jutsu: **

**[Name - Type - User(s) - Description]**

**Raging Tempest – Collaboration – Keiko Aoiumi & Toshiro Tenki – Water-affinity collaborator forms a large whirlpool of water which is then electrified by Lightning-affinity collaborator**

**Fire Style: Inferno Serpent – Ninjutsu – Anko Mitarashi – Weaker version of the Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu**

**Blossom of the Shining Moon – Kekkei Genkai – Tsukibura Runa – User raises sword or other bladed weapon into the air and uses reflection of moonlight as a medium to channel chakra into a laser-like attack; Can also be used with sunlight**

**Water Style: Reverse Waterfall – Ninjutsu – Kōzui Kasukēdo – User creates a ring of water that flows upwards from the ground with the force of a waterfall; works best when opponents are off of the ground**

**Fire Style: Ring of Fire – Ninjutsu – Denchi Hikari – User creates a large halo of fire in the air that can be dropped onto enemies or flung through the air like a Frisbee of death**

**Fire Style: Solar Wind – Ninjutsu – Denchi Hikari – User manipulates solar energy to form solar winds, which can then be sent rushing at opponents, instantly killing any who are caught in the wave **


	18. Snake in the Grass

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**

**Chapter 18 - Snake in the Grass – Galaxy Strikes Back!**

Recap: _"Well done everyone." Tsunade began. "You've exceeded expectations and eliminated one of the strongest sources of opposition. However, this campaign is far from over. But for now, rest up and once you're at full strength, you're moving out again."_

One week after the battle with the Sound forces, Team Galaxy assembled in their new base of operations: Liger and König's warehouse. After some debating about headquarters for the platoon, Liger offered the use of the main floor of the building. So, the whole platoon, minus Team Nova, moved into the building with the two Zoids. Dozens of beds from a recently out-of-business hotel (conveniently enough, they tried to refuse Anko service a few weeks back and she managed to single-handedly scare off the hotel's customers in retaliation) were moved in so that the group had a place to sleep and the nearby bathhouse took care of showering needs.

The reason for their assembly today was simple. Vacation was over. Tsunade sent messengers to inform everyone to assemble at Headquarters at eight o'clock sharp, so here they were, standing in lines with their new uniforms.

After the battle with Kabuto's forces, Team Galaxy's look got a major overhaul. They were outfitted with black ANBU pants, black combat boots, and black muscle shirts. Over that, they wore metal vambraces, greaves, and torso plates in their respective unit colors. They also received new headbands to mark them as members of Team Galaxy. The new headbands were in the proper unit color but the plates were now affixed with the platoon's new insignia which was a circle of eight six-point stars and one nine-point star in the center. Each point on the six-point stars represented a member of the forty-eight unit platoon. The ninth star represented the union of Konan, the Five Great Nations, Taki, Getsu, and Taiyo.

Tsunade walked into the building and moved to stand in front of the group.

"Well everyone, today's a big day." the Hokage began. "We're going to retaliate for last week's invasion. Our intelligence network has discovered that the Sound forces under Kabuto were working in conjunction with the Red Vipers and the new leader of Kusagakure. In fact, the leader of Kusa was the one who gave the invasion order. Apparently he's an ambitious little sleazebag who wants to try and take over the Land of Fire. So, we will be taking care of this little threat. Your orders are to infiltrate Kusagakure, assassinate the leader, and raze the Red Viper headquarters to the ground. You leave in two hours and I expect you back on the day after tomorrow. Any questions?"

"No ma'am!" the platoon chorused.

"Very well." Tsunade continued. "Due to her unsurpassed infiltration skills, Tsukibura will be in charge with Toshiro as second-in-command. Dismissed!"

* * *

At five o'clock the next day, Team Galaxy was assembled in the forest about three miles out from Kusagakure. They had spent the entire morning and afternoon scouting the area around the village, and even managed to get a detailed map of the village, something that Liger was able to compile after a flight with Konan under the cover of clouds manipulated by Toshiro and Keiko. Currently, the majority of the platoon was scattered throughout the area with only the eight team leaders, Konan, and Liger left together to make their final plans.

"So, how do we want to handle this?" Liger asked to start things off.

"Well, we have two clearly defined goals." Tsukibura said. "Assassinate the leader and destroy the HQ building. I think the best thing to do would be cause a major distraction with the latter, and use the confusion to make the kill."

"There's only one problem with that." Shinji responded. "When that HQ comes under assault, the guy will know something's up and he'll tighten security."

"He's got a point." Kōzui agreed.

"Well, would we be able to take out the leader first?" Matsuri questioned.

"No," Kakashi replied, "if by some chance we slip up, they'll alert the soldiers and we don't need that kind of resistance."

"Why don't we take them out at the same time?" Toshiro suggested.

"I don't think we should try to split our forces that much." Konan said.

"There's really not much of an option here." Denchi spoke up. "We've got to go with whatever has the best chance of working. And we've got to do it soon before we're discovered."

"I think I may have it." Keiko finally said after much thought. "Here's what we'll do…"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"What's the meaning of this, Kisame?" Sasuke demanded as he observed the three before him, "They're dead! All of them!"

"And they call you a genius." Kisame scoffed. "They were too valuable to waste like that. Pain kept them locked up at one of our bases in case he needed someone tested. So we used a technique to make clones of them. Very efficient clones at that."

"So they were just a tool to test combat abilities?" Karin questioned from behind Sasuke.

"Exactly." Kisame replied. "But now, they're our new soldiers."

"Well, this will work for what I need." Sasuke commented before turning to leave.

"And what is your plan, oh mighty Uchiha?" Kisame asked sarcastically.

"Simple. Level Konoha." Sasuke replied. "And they, along with the two of you, will keep Naruto's annoying friends out of the way while I kill him."

"Where are you going?" Karin asked,

"To deliver a message." Sasuke answered with a smirk.

* * *

At twelve o'clock on the dot, the beginning of the surge caught Kusagakure completely off guard without making much of a sound. Clouds covered the stars, leaving only the moon to illuminate the Village. However, there wasn't much to illuminate as a large fogbank settled in over the buildings. White butterflies fluttered across the sleeping village as leaves blew in with the wind. However, if anyone had been around to look closely, they would have found out that the butterflies were made of paper.

Suddenly, a localized earthquake erupted in the heart of the city. People leapt from their beds and took shelter under tables and such, waiting for the quake to stop. They didn't have to wait long. Unfortunately, before they could return to bed, a large boom echoed over the village. When Kusa's security finally made it to the source of the sound, they found a large sinkhole had opened up in the ground near the Academy. They called for help before starting down into the sunken building to recover the teaching scrolls.

While Teams Meteor and Nebula kept an eye on the sinkhole, Teams Stratos and Comet continued to keep the village covered with the clouds and fog. Meanwhile, the butterflies all landed near the Village leader's office and took the form of Konan. She then took her position right above the escape route for the kunoichi right behind her. Konan watched, impressed, as Tsukibura appeared without a sound and silently made her way to the target's window. Once in the man's room, Tsukibura found, to her relief, that the man had indeed soundproofed his room. As she moved about the room to set up her trap, he snored loudly in his bed. Once finished, she reached into her pocket and withdrew the tiny orange marble that was the final part of the trap. She set it on the doorknob and made her way out of the room. Konan dropped down and followed her fellow kunoichi out of the area in butterfly form.

* * *

While the girls were setting up the trap, Teams Nova and Solar took up their positions around the HQ. Confident that Team Neutron, most of Team Nova, and the rest of Team Lunar were in position to pick off any stragglers, Kakashi and Denchi waited for the signal to begin their part of the operation. It was not a long wait before a white butterfly alighted on Kakashi's shoulder. The butterfly unfolded its wings revealing a one-word message.

"**Initiate**."

That was all that was needed. Kakashi gave a signal to Liger, who was standing nearby in his Panzer armor. When he saw the sign Kakashi made, Liger activated his targeting systems. Due to the fact that he was, to paraphrase, trying to hit the side of a barracks, he didn't really need to set any specific targets. However, he decided that he could maximize the damage by firing the missiles straight into the rooms through the windows. A short moment later, the targets turned orange and Liger was ready.

"Firing MEGA BOMB!" he shouted as he launched his barrage.

Every single missile in Liger's arsenal was sent rocketing into the barracks. Not even the Burning Big Bang was as ferocious as this assault. As soon as the first missile detonated, the rest followed, leveling the building in the process. Across the town, Kusa's leader was awoken by the sounds of destruction. He sat straight up in bed and moved right into Tsukibura's trap. A wire was tripped when he sat up. This wire in turn released a spring that launched almost a dozen kunai straight into the man's body. He was dead before he even hit the bed again. As he bled out, Team Galaxy made their exit with no one being any the wiser. It was over in five minutes.

* * *

After an approximately nine-hour return trip, the platoon returned to Konoha. While the individual members of the platoon returned to Liger's place, the nine commanders (team leaders and Konan) continued to Tsunade to report on the mission. The four kunoichi and five shinobi filed into the Hokage's office at exactly nine o'clock.

"Well?" Tsunade asked. "How did it go?"

"The mission was a complete success, Hokage-sama." Tsukibura began. She was still the leader after all. "Konan and I were able to set up a trap to make the kill, confirmed by one of Naruto Uzumaki's **Shadow Clones** which was transformed into a marble. On the other side of the Village, at the same time no less, Liger Zero was able to completely obliterate the headquarters in one blast. If I may, Hokage-sama, I wish to go on report that Liger Zero is the most impressive warrior I've ever worked with and my fellow commanders agree."

"_You have no idea_." Tsunade thought before responding.

"Excellent work Team. You're done for a while now, so let your individual teams know that you have full-use of all of Konoha's training grounds as long as you reserve it a day in advance. Once we identify the locations of the final two targets, you'll head out and hopefully end this conflict. As of right now, we believe the main stronghold of the Red Vipers to be somewhere in the Land of Wind's desert. The Kazekage has his best trackers scouring the desert to pinpoint the location and then we'll figure out the best time to strike. That is the first of the two targets. Number two is missing-nin Sasuke Uchiha and the rest of the Akatsuki. As you can imagine, we're having less luck in finding them. But rest assured, we will find them. For now though, you're all dismissed."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" the nine responded with a salute. Just as they were about to use **Shunshin **to leave, they heard a dark chuckle.

"So this is the Team Galaxy I've heard so much about?"

Everyone turned to the window to see Sasuke Uchiha standing on the sill. Matsuri was about to attack when Kakashi held up a hand to stop her.

"He's a clone." Kakashi explained. "Attacking him will do nothing."

"What do you want, Uchiha?" Tsunade demanded.

"Merely to issue an ultimatum." the clone replied. "I like a good fight. So I'm giving you a warning. Three weeks from today," he said before dispelling, "Team Blood attacks."

**A/N: Alrighty then. First off, I'm sure you're all thinking, "**_**That's it?**_**" Well, yes it is. After some thought and planning, I decided that this would be a mere transition chapter. I've also decided that this will be the end of **_**Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm**_** because there's really nothing left in Part 2. So since this part is two chapters shorter, Part 3 will be three chapters longer (See, I is learning lots of math). These new chapters will include the revelation of Naruto's mysterious new Chaka and another chapter of interaction with the three new Zoids. This brings me to my next point. After tallying up the votes of a whopping 13 people, we have a first, second, and third place Zoid to be introduced to the story. There's only one catch…I'm lying (a cookie for anyone who recognizes that quote). In actuality, there is a tie for third place, so I'm going to do the logical thing and pick the one of the two that I want to be third (if that made any sense).**

**Thank you all for voting, and I'll now mention another important piece of news. My next fanfic, **_**The Strength of Outcasts**_**, will be here soon. So, I need your help again. I'm setting up another poll for the Summon Boss of Naruto's new Summoning Contract. I'm not telling what the contract is, and you won't be able to guess from seeing the choices. Unless you're really smart or have ESP. We'll see. (Hint: it's not as obvious as it looks) So, thanks for reading **_**The Fox and the Liger - Part 2: The Calm Before the Storm. **_**Please vote on the new poll and let me know what you thought of Part 1, Part 2, or the story in general. Thanks again!**

**p.s. As compensation for such a disappointingly short chapter, Chapter 19 will be here within the week. It will also mark the start of **_**The Fox and the Liger - Part 3: Endgame **_**and will be much longer than this one. So be sure to keep an eye out!**


	19. Special Mission

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 3: Endgame**

**Chapter 19 – Special Mission – Leveling the Playing Field!**

Recap: _"What do you want, Uchiha?" Tsunade demanded._

_"Merely to issue an ultimatum." the clone replied. "I like a good fight. So I'm giving you a warning. Three weeks from today," he said before dispelling, "Team Blood attacks."_

It was now one week before Sasuke's promised attack. Team Galaxy, minus Team Nova, had been sent to make sure the Red Vipers didn't capitalize on the attack by launching an invasion. So, it had been up to Konoha and Team Nova to come up with a strategy to make up for lost strength.

Each ninja member of Team Nova spent the two weeks training. Anko secluded herself in the Forest of Death and several passerbies reported hearing massive explosions coming from Training Ground 44. Kakashi spent his time with the other Jonin coming up with strategies to prepare for the assault. He understood that his former student wasn't above killing any villagers that got in his way. Sakura and Tsunade prepared to handle any medical needs the battle would create. And Naruto disappeared to Mount Myōboku for more Sage training.

While all of their training was going on, Liger and König hadn't emerged from their home the entire time. The rest of the team had become worried and were relieved when Liger sent them a message requesting that they meet the two Zoids in Tsunade's office, which led to the current meeting.

"You want to leave the village?" Tsunade questioned incredulously. "For what?"

"Simple." Liger told her. "Back-up. König and I have been communicating with the other members of Project X back home. After much deliberation, they've given the green light for three others to come through the portal."

"Others?" Shizune questioned.

"Zoids." König clarified.

"How long will this mission take?" Tsunade asked.

"Two days." Liger answered. "One day to get to the portal and one to get back."

"And it will be the six of you going?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Very well." Tsunade finally decided. "Get going."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Liger said before leading Team Nova out of the office.

* * *

A short while later, Team Nova was speeding through the trees away from Konoha. Since it was already twenty after one, Liger wanted to cover almost all of the distance to the portal. As they followed Liger and König, the four ninja were wondering what was coming to help them.

"Hey König?" Naruto asked as he came up beside her.

"Yes?" she asked after turning her head to face him.

"How many Zoids are coming to help us?"

"Hopefully three, but one might be a little stubborn." König told him.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned.

"Well, he's a bit of a loner, but he's really tough." the female Zoid explained. "In fact, Liger's the only one who's beaten him in a fight."

"So he's even stronger than you?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Much stronger." König answered.

After hearing this, Naruto and Sakura both spent the rest of the trip in silence, wondering what kind of warrior was more powerful than König.

* * *

Several hours later, they finally arrived at a clearing in the forest. The two shinobi and two kunoichi looked around for any sign of the portal, but found none. When questioned about it, Liger gave the obvious answer.

"It's not open yet." he told them.

"How long until it's open?" Kakashi asked.

"Well it's about a quarter after five, so about forty-five minutes." Liger answered. "We got here a lot faster than I thought we would."

"So what are we supposed to do for forty-five minutes?" Naruto demanded.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm taking a nap." Anko said.

"I'll clean my blades." Liger mentioned. "They need to be in tip-top shape for the battle."

When Naruto and Sakura turned to Kakashi, they found he was already sitting under a tree reading one of Jiraya's books. So, the two young Jonin sat down and played a game of shogi.

* * *

When it was almost six o'clock, Liger woke up Anko and gathered everyone over at the edge of the clearing.

"We have to stay back here, otherwise we'll end up traveling through the portal ourselves." he explained. "Now we just wait."

"For how long?" Naruto asked.

Suddenly a mysterious black fog blanketed the clearing.

"Not long." Liger said with a smirk.

Blue lightning began arcing through the fog. This lasted for about a minute before the lightning stopped and the cloud of fog dissipated leaving behind three very different figures.

The figure on the left was a man that was about Liger's height. He had shoulder-length black hair and amber-colored eyes. He wore a military-style black trench coat with gold trim on the collar, wrists, and bottom edge. He also wore black pants with gold trim on the ankles and silver boots. On his back was a four-barreled machine gun with a blue casing on the end. He was also wearing a pair of silver finger-less gloves.

The figure in the middle was a beautiful woman that was a few inches shorter than König. Her hair was a deep crimson color and her eyes were a deeper orange than the first man's. She was wearing a crimson sleeveless vest with a black tank-top underneath and a black skirt. Her boots were silver with crimson trim. Slung over her shoulder was a single-barreled version of König's Sniper Rifle, but it looked much more powerful.

The last man was the most intimidating. He was a few inches taller than Liger and he had vertically spiked black hair. His eyes were a blood red color. His attire consisted of a lavender tank-top and a pair of black pants. His boots were black with silver toes. On his back were two bizarre looking weapons. Each one was made up of three long, serrated blades in a triangle formation. At the base, the three blades were attached to a single black hilt. None of the ninja had ever seen anything like them.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Shadow, Red, and Fury." Liger introduced as he indicated the three newcomers in order.

"Who're the kids?" Fury asked in a husky voice.

"Hey, who are you callin' kids?" Anko and Naruto demanded.

"Easy Fury," König told him, "they're the ninja we told you about."

"Ninja huh?" Shadow questioned. "Never seen one of them before."

"All three of you are Zoids?" Kakashi asked.

"You bet, Scarecrow." Red responded as she walked past him and went to König. "So where's this place at?"

"It's about a half-day's journey from here, so we'll get there tomorrow morning." König told her.

"Well, lead the way then." Fury said.

* * *

During the journey back to Konoha, the five Zoids mostly conversed amongst themselves. Even though the ninja didn't understand most of the words used - like Gojulas and Cisco – it was still interesting hearing stories of battles fought. They learned that Shadow was one of the most agile Zoids there was; Liger was the first Zoid to come within 1000 yards of Red; and Fury's only defeat was to Liger. This indicated that Fury was the stubborn Zoid König was talking about. They also learned that Shadow and Red had a relationship like Liger and König's, only theirs mirrored their pilot's.

Finally, after a few hours of travel (the three newcomers were taught tree-running fairly quickly) it was time to stop for the night.

"How far out are we?" Shadow questioned.

"About three hours." Kakashi told him.

"Alright. Good night then."

The black-clad Zoid sat down at the base of a tree and stretched out his legs before placing his hands behind his head and falling asleep.

"So, who wants first watch?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't worry about that." Liger said. "If anyone can get within range of Fury and me, they deserve to kill us."

"I'd prefer to not find out if that's possible." Kakashi told him.

"Whatever, I'll take first watch." Liger told him. "Then Fury can take over."

"Very well. Have fun." Kakashi told him before he settled in for the night too.

* * *

After an uneventful night, the group of nine arrived in Konoha at about ten o'clock. Once there, they went straight for the Hokage's office. Tsunade studied the three newcomers with a calculating eye. The targets of her scrutiny, for their part, remained completely impassive; except for the smirk Fury was wearing. This seemed to irritate the Hokage, who then made a surprising decision.

"Not that I don't trust Liger and König," she began, "but I need to know what you're capable of. I want to see how efficient you are at battling in your current forms other than your regular ones. On top of that, I want to see what your individual areas of expertise are so that I know where to use you in the battle. So, I want all nine of you to meet me at Training Ground 65 in three hours. Dismissed!"

* * *

At the appointed time, Team Nova met their commander on the field that had been previously used as the staging area for Team Galaxy. In addition to her earlier statements, Tsunade also wanted to see what Shadow, Red, and Fury could do in their true forms. But that would come later.

"Alright, ladies first." Tsunade began. Red stepped forward and stood in front of the Hokage. "Well, what is your specialty?"

"Long range combat, ma'am." Red responded. "I can hit a target from over 2000 yards and make it a kill shot."

"Very well, let's see you back up that claim. I'm going to have one of Naruto's **Shadow Clones **positioned at the other end of this field. Kill it before it gets within that range and you pass."

"Bring it on." Red said with a smirk.

Five minutes later, the **Shadow Clone **was ready. At Tsunade's command, the clone began running through the field towards them in a zigzag motion. Red drew her rifle from her back and lay down on the ground. She looked through her scope and took aim. Three seconds later, she squeezed the trigger. Everyone thought she would miss because the shot was several feet to the left of the clone. But just before the shot reached him, the clone tripped in a hole and fell sideways; right into the projectile's path. Everyone but the Zoids was amazed when the laser tore right through the target's head.

"How's that?" Red asked, smirk still present.

"You p-pass." Tsunade stuttered out while still staring at the site where the clone was killed.

* * *

After everyone finally got over their shock, Tsunade told Shadow that it was his turn.

"Well what can you do?" Tsunade asked.

"Rather than tell you, I'll show you." he replied. "Try to hit me."

As soon as he said that, smoke began pouring out of his sleeves and collar. Quickly filling the area, the ninja began couching while looking for Shadow. Tsunade saw a figure running through the smoke ahead of her and launched a kunai at it. Nothing. Anko saw him next, but her fireball missed by a mile. Suddenly the cloud dissipated and they found that Shadow was standing amongst them with his gun pointed at Tsunade's back.

"Dead." was the simple statement.

"Very impressive." the Hokage complimented. "What about that weapon you have there? What can it do?"

"My Vulcan Cannon? Well, someone throw a couple of those knives into the air and I'll show you." Shadow told her.

Sakura complied and launched six kunai into the sky in rapid succession. Shadow raised the gun and fired off a six-round burst in a fraction of a second. The ninja had no idea what happened until the kunai exploded. Shadow returned his gun to his back and turned to Fury.

"Your turn."

* * *

After informing the Hokage that his specialties were broad, Fury stepped up for a demonstration. He asked Shadow to help him by standing several yards away and opening fire with his Vulcan Cannon. Before the shots reached him, Fury drew his weapons from his back. Each of the three blades opened up at a 90 degree angle and a large pink energy field formed around Fury. The shots disappeared as they hit the field, telling the ninja that it was a form of bizarre shield.

"Those shields, depending on the power, can block many things." Liger explained. "Fury's is one of the most powerful as you just saw. It'll be more than enough for anything Sasuke or his team can throw at us."

"And what of his offensive capabilities?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, he has a pair of AZ 185 millimeter Beam Cannons." König answered. "And then of course there's his most powerful weapon, but it's not something for a demonstration."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi inquired.

"Fury's main weapon is called the Charged Particle Cannon." Liger began. "It fires a beam of concentrated charged particles that superheat and melt a hold into the target. It's probably the most powerful weapon in our world and Fury can fire three of them at once."

"Unfortunately," Red took over, "Fury can only use the CPC in his Zoid form."

"Something like that could destroy the entire Village!" Sakura observed. "You can't let him use it!"

"Don't worry." Fury interrupted. "Mine is a diffused version, so it's less potent."

"Diffused?" Naruto questioned.

"In simpler terms it means that it's less concentrated." Shadow told him. "Anyway, CPCs aside, are we done?"

"I suppose so." Tsunade answered. "This has been a very successful test. Hopefully the three of you will make enough of a difference that we can stop Sasuke and whoever Team Blood is."

"I hope he's stupid enough to follow through with his threat." Fury said with a smirk.

**A/N: There you go folks! Part 3 has begun and the new Zoids are here! Sorry this one's short too, but this is just build up for the climactic final battle that will take up most of the rest of Part 3 (there's only a little bit more set-up). In case you haven't figured it out, Fury is Vega's Berserk Fury, Shadow is Brad's Shadow Fox, and Red is Naomi's Gun Sniper (named Red after Naomi's nickname of the 'Red Comet'). Now something I realized is that I haven't really explained what their voices are based on. Red and Shadow both have voices similar to their respective pilots. Since Fury is so much more mature than Vega, his voice is closer to Altile's or Mjr. Polta's. König's is probably close to Pierce's. And finally, Liger's is similar to Leon Toros'. So let me know what you think and thanks for reading!**


	20. The Will of Fire

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 3: Endgame**

**Chapter 20 – The Will of Fire – Naruto's Combat Motivation!**

At Kakashi's instruction, Naruto and Sakura met their captain at their usual training ground. He told them that he was going to help them train for the upcoming battle. As the two walked onto the field however, Kakashi was not alone.

"Glad to see you're on time." Konan said as the younger Jonin approached.

The former member of Akatsuki had abandoned her usual attire for what was presumed to be a training outfit. This consisted of a pair of form-fitting black pants and a navy blue version of Ino's shirt. The usual origami flower was in her hair.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here." Konan began. "The answer is that I'm going to personally train Sakura while Naruto trains with Kakashi. Understand?"

"Yes, Konan-sama." the two replied.

"Good. Then let's begin."

Konan walked off to another part of the Training Ground with Sakura following closely behind. Kakashi watched them walk off before turning back to Naruto.

"The first thing I want to know before we start is this," Kakashi said to his pupil, "how did you overpower Sasuke's Fire jutsu with your Wind ones?"

"That's easy to answer, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto responded. "I added a little bit of Sage chakra into the attacks. It didn't require me to go completely into Sage mode, and they changed the Wind chakra just enough to overpower the Fire."

"I'm impressed, Naruto." Kakashi complimented him. "You've come a long way. Now, with that out of the way, I'm going to teach you a new technique. One that will hopefully allow you to counter Sasuke's kenjutsu."

* * *

After walking to the other end of the Training Ground, Konan stopped and turned to her temporary student.

"So what are we going to work on, Konan-sensei?" Sakura questioned.

"I was asked by Tsunade and Kakashi to give you some new weapons for your arsenal of jutsu." the older Kunoichi answered.

"What do you mean by 'new weapons'?"

"You're fairly tough for a Medic-nin." Konan began. "But that's only in short range. We're going to work on a new mid to long range jutsu for you, and then we'll go from there.

* * *

_Five days later..._

"Alright Naruto." Kakashi told the now panting blond. "I think you've finally mastered it."

"Great." Naruto huffed out. "I'm glad that's over."

Before Kakashi could respond, they heard the voice of their other teammate.

"Naruto! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called from the entrance of the field. "You guys have to see this!"

"What is it?" Naruto questioned.

"Liger and the other Zoids." she told him. "Tsunade asked them to help fortify some of the Village's defenses. So they decided that the shelters for the villagers was the most important thing to protect."

"And what did they do?" Kakashi questioned.

"I can't describe it." she responded. "You just have to come see it."

She led the two back to the Village and they hopped along the roof tops once there. After a few minutes, they came to the base of the Hokage monument, right in front of the Zoids' base. Naruto and Kakashi were surprised to see the strange metal rods stuck into the rock all over the cliff. They were arranged in a strange pattern but none were stuck into the faces themselves. The five Zoids were standing with Tsunade, looking up at their work.

"Liger, what are those?" Naruto asked.

"A shield array." he answered. "When this is activated, an energy shield will form around the shelter, protecting it from any attacks. Stray or intentional."

"Awesome!" the blond exclaimed. "So what else have you guys been doing?"

"Determining the best positions to defend the Village." König answered. "Red and I were checking out the walls for sniper nests. Shadow and Fury were looking for open areas to fight in. And LZ spent all of his time planning strategies."

"How about you?" Red asked the shinobi. "What have you been up to?"

"Training to fight Sasuke." Naruto said gravely. He wasn't looking forward to this fight, but he was resolved in his belief about what needed to happen.

"What kind of training?" Fury questioned.

"A new jutsu to counter Sasuke's kenjutsu." Naruto answered.

"That's what I figured." Fury replied. "Liger told me about the techniques you guys use. But he also told me about your friend the Fox."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto questioned.

"I want to talk to him." Fury responded.

This statement shocked everyone, even the other Zoids. Tsunade, still a bit wary of Fury, was afraid of what would happen if the hard-core Zoid were to meet the demon fox. But it wasn't her call.

"Why do you want to talk to him?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"To get him to help you out. Now let me see him."

"Okay, but I still think this is a bad idea."

As König and Liger had done before, Fury entered Naruto's mind and found himself in the seal room. This time however, the fox didn't appear outside the cage. Instead he merely roared in an attempt to intimidate the two men. Undeterred, Fury walked up to the cage and slid through the bars. As with Liger, the fox attempted to attack the newcomer. Fury slugged the fox square in the snout when it got close, sending the tailed beast skidding across the ground.

"Chill out fur ball." Fury ordered the now growling fox. "I'm here to talk and I can't do that if I have to knock you out."

"**What makes you think I would speak to a lowly fool like you?**" the fox snarled.

"Who said you get to say anything?" Fury questioned with a smirk. "I said I was here to talk, not _listen_."

"So, what're we here for?" Naruto asked as he walked up to them.

"To place it simply, you need to learn how to fight."

"What do you mean?" Naruto demanded. "I've known how to fight for over ten years!"

"Good for you!" Fury snapped back. "I've known how to fight for ten thousand years! So, I suggest you listen to what I tell you. Who knows? You might actually learn something."

"Fine." Naruto said with a frustrated sigh.

"Alright then. The reason we're here is to teach you how to fight _and _do it with everything you've got. I'm going to spend some time teaching you about what is known as _Combat Motivation_. Our actual lesson will start this evening, but first we needed to come here."

"**And why have you decided to grace me with your unwanted presence?**" the fox asked sarcastically.

"I'm glad you asked." Fury answered. "Liger explained the whole 'control incident' with you. This included the part about you wanting revenge. So, the way I figure it, you help Naruto and he helps you."

"H**o**w **s**o**?**" the beast and his container asked at the same time.

"Well it's quite simple. You my nine-tailed friend aren't getting out of this cage any time soon. And you Naruto need his cooperation in order to access your full potential. So here's the deal: the Kyuubi will stop influencing Naruto's chakra control and thoughts. In return, Naruto, you will let the fox use your body for his revenge."

"And what will stop him from keeping my body?" Naruto questioned.

"The fact that you have control over him." Fury explained. "You will still be in absolute control and can regain control over your body at any time. Think of it in terms of your Hokage. If someone needs assassinated, she sends out a shinobi to kill them. They get the job done in whatever manner they choose. But if the Hokage doesn't like how that particular ninja does things, she can order him back and do the job herself."

"I see." Naruto finally said after a few minutes of thought. "As long as I can stop him if I need to, then I'm okay with it."

"And you fox?"

"**I don't like it at all, but I will do as I must.**"

"That's what I thought." Fury said before withdrawing from Naruto's mind.

* * *

That night, Fury met Naruto at the Training Ground. Naruto noticed that the moonlight cast an eerie glow on the Zoid. Fury's blood red eyes made the image even more intimidating.

"Alright kid, let's get started." Fury began. "The first thing you need to know is what Combat Motivation really is. To put it in simple terms: Combat Motivation is your reasons for fighting. But it's so much more than that. We'll start with the most important thing: what is your reason for fighting?"

"To protect those precious to me!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well that was easy enough." Fury responded. "Usually that requires some deep thought. Now we can move on. This reason of yours is what drives your own Combat Motivation. Here's how it works: when you're in a fight and you're fighting because you have to, your Combat Motivation will be somewhere under 100 percent. The specific level will depend on how much effort you're putting forth and how much you want to be in that fight. Normal level is probably about 60 or 70 percent, more if one or both of those factors are more intense. However, if you're fighting because there's a serious threat to your loved ones, then your Combat Motivation will rocket past 100 percent. The highest I've ever reached is 200 percent, at which point I lost control of my Combat System. Since you're not a Zoid, you don't have to worry about a Combat System, but you need to be careful not to lose your focus. It's very easy to go from fighting to protect your loved ones to fighting out of hatred and rage towards your enemy. Hopefully, the deal with the fox will make it easier to stay under control."

"That's a lot to take in." Naruto commented. "If you don't mind my asking, what was your Combat Motivation?"

"It's different now, but when I hit 200%, it was because I was in a fight for dominance with Liger." Fury explained. "Even though we're technically not animals, Zoids still have a need to assert themselves as Alphas. This is even more so for Ultimate X Zoids, which is what Liger, König, and I are."

"Alright, so how do I harness my Combat Motivation?" Naruto asked.

"When you're in a fight, you need to think about what you're fighting for. If you end up fighting for your loved ones, you'll naturally break the 100% barrier. In order to harness the Combat Motivation, you'll need complete focus and you'll need to remember what you'll lose if you lose the fight. You need to remember what's at stake. And above all, you'll need to remember how much your loved ones mean to you. Once you can do all three of those things, you'll reach a higher percentage. Your mind will enter a special state in which no outside thoughts will even come in. Only thoughts about the fight and what you're fighting for will matter. For example, if you find yourself fighting on a different terrain, you won't think about it and you won't care. Your body will adapt on its own and you'll keep fighting. That's the key to Combat Motivation. Now for the rest of our time here, I want you to fight me while keeping what you've just learned in mind."

* * *

_The next day_...

The morning and afternoon of the last day of peace was spent by evacuating the villagers to the shelter. After Pain's **Almighty Push** killed so many of the civilians, Tsunade wasn't taking any chances with wide-area attacks. So, the villagers were to be moved ahead of time. Not knowing where the attack would be launched from, Tsunade decided that Team Nova would be positioned in the center of the village, minutes away from any part that was assaulted.

For the third time in as many hours, the Hokage pondered her decision to let Team Nova engage Team Blood alone. However, she knew that any support would only get in the way. With Anko remaining behind to coordinate the defense of the village, Tsunade knew that the remaining nine members of Team Nova would need room to fight. Hopefully however, Tsunade's strategy would come through. This lead to the current meeting with Team Nova.

"As I'm sure you can all imagine I want this fight to take place outside of Konoha." Tsunade told the team assembled in her office. "That's why our plan will revolve around luring Sasuke's Team Blood to another location."

"Such as?" Naruto questioned.

"This valley here, three kilometers west of Konoha." Tsunade answered while pointing to a spot on a map.

"And how do you propose we get the little sleazebag there?" Fury asked.

"It's very simple." Tsunade told them. "Sasuke's main goal is Naruto. As such, he will naturally seek him out. So the strategy will be to let Sasuke know where Naruto is. We'll do that by letting the Nine-Tail's chakra out in a large amount; enough that Sasuke won't be able to miss it."

"And if that doesn't work?" Red asked.

"Then we go with Plan B: Summoning."

**A/N: Sorry this one's so short, but there isn't really much to put into this chapter. I ran into the problem of necessary information that doesn't take up much space. Hopefully, the rest of the story will be in longer chapters than this. Thanks for reading and I wish you all Happy Holidays!**


	21. Storm Surge

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 3: Endgame**

**Chapter 21 – Storm Surge – The Battle Begins!**

The morning of Sasuke's promised invasion, Team Nova had positioned themselves in the valley. Red and Shadow were positioned atop large ledges on the west and east walls of the valley respectively. However, valley wasn't quite an accurate term. It was similar to a valley, but it was enclosed on the north end as well. This created a large natural arena, with one open end in the south. This third wall was also covered in ledges; one of these was occupied by Liger, König and the shinobi of Team Nova. Finally, Fury was positioned on the valley floor, dead center between the east and west walls.

"So what's his plan?" Sakura asked Liger of the lone Zoid.

"That will have to remain a surprise." Liger answered her, before contacting Red on a radio borrowed from Konoha. "Any sight of them?"

"Not yet." Red replied while looking through the sight of her rifle. "Nothing more than a- wait! Enemy spotted!" she shouted over the radio after glimpsing Sasuke and several others traveling through the trees.

Tsunade's theory turned out to be correct. Since the forest was thickest west of Konoha, she figured that was the direction Team Blood would approach from. This forced the rogues to pass right by the valley's entrance.

"Whatever you're doing Naruto, you better do it now." Liger told him.

"Will do." Naruto responded before beginning to flare his chakra. At first it was only a somewhat large spike. But then he added the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra. This influx of demonic chakra caused the "flare" of chakra to turn into a towering inferno of power. As Red watched through her scope, Sasuke's group felt the spike and immediately stopped. When they did, Red added in a little more incentive for Sasuke to change his course. A single shot blasted out of her rifle and vaporized the bottom of the tree the enemies were currently perched in. This forced Sasuke and his team to scatter.

"Feels like Naruto and his pathetic friends want a fight." Sasuke told his group. "Let's indulge them."

"How do you want to go about this?" Karin questioned.

"Kusuna." Sasuke said, turning to his pink-haired companion. "Take your little gang and head in first. I want to see just who all's here."

"Fine." Kusuna responded. "Let's go."

The so-called "Gang of Four" was the first of the hostiles to enter the canyon. Naruto was surprised to see them alive, but he quickly shook it off.

"Is Sasuke still in the trees?" Naruto asked Red.

"Yes, apparently these four are to get an idea of our strength."

Then Liger spoke, "Red, Shadow, don't engage them. Fury, wait and see what they do. I trust your judgment on responding."

"Roger." the addressed three responded.

Kusuna and his group stopped about fifty yards from Fury. They lined up in a diamond formation with Kusuna to the north, Gitai to the east, Setsuna to the south, and Shizuku to the west.

"Only one of you is willing to challenge us?" Kusuna asked the seemingly uncaring Fury.

"I don't see any reason to let the others share my fun." Fury responded.

"Well then, we'll just have to give you a reason!" Kusuna retorted before switching places with Setsuna. "**Strengthening Prescription: Chakra Injection!**"

Three dark chakra snakes appeared out of Kusuna's collar and bit the other three on the neck. As the dark chakra flowed into them, Setsuna gained red marks, Shizuku gained blue marks, and Gitai's were green. Their chakra spiked, causing a sudden gust of wind to rush through the valley. Fury however, was not impressed.

"Really?" he questioned. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"My, he's a cocky one, isn't he?" Shizuku cackled.

"Right, cocky." Fury scoffed as he drew his two melee weapons. "Let's call it that."

As he brought the two weapons in front of him, Fury flipped a switch at the bases. This caused the blade portion on each to begin rotating like a drill. Once these blades were spinning at their maximum speed, Fury took off like a bullet towards the Foursome, who quickly reacted.

"**Fire Style: Fire Run!**" Shizuku shouted as he launched a ring of fire at Fury.

"**Wind Style: Divine Downcurrent!**" Setsuna added while unleashing a gust of wind.

The wind technique engulfed the fire one and created an enormous blast of fire. Fury didn't stop however, instead continuing his charge.

"Stop him, Gitai!" Kusuna ordered.

"With pleasure!" Gitai responded. "**Earth Style: Stone Column Spear!**"

Dozens of rocky pillars shot up out of the ground in front of Fury. But the Zoid still didn't stop. He used his drills to tear right through the pillars before finally reaching the first of the Gang of Four.

"Setsuna!" Kusuna exclaimed as his blue-haired teammate was torn apart by one of Fury's drills.

As Fury brought his second drill into Shizuku, he was surprised to see that the orange-haired psycho had turned his body into water and was now racing across the ground away from him.

"Not so fast!" Fury shouted as his right drill ceased spinning. He held the drill out towards Shizuku and fired a blue laser shot out from between the blades. The blast nailed the puddle dead center and instantly evaporated Shizuku.

"Two down, two to go!"

* * *

By the time Shizuku died, the rest of Sasuke's team began streaming out of the woods. Including the dead two, Naruto counted a total of ten. In addition to Sasuke and Karin, he saw several old enemies: Kisame Hoshigaki, Kagura, Bando, and Aoi Rokusho. It seemed Sasuke really wanted Team Nova dead.

"Here we go." Liger announced before leaping from the ledge. In mid air, Liger activated the Jager armor. When he landed, the Zoid made a beeline for Kisame.

"We can't let him have all the fun!" König said before following Liger. She, upon landing, began engaging Karin. She was joined by Shadow who decided that he was going after Aoi. This left Kagura and Bando. Before any of the shinobi could join the battle, Red hailed them on the comm. unit.

"The orange-haired guy is mine." the sniper Zoid told them. "I don't care what you do about the rest of them."

"I'll go assist Fury with those two. " Kakashi said to the remaining three. "Konan and Sakura, you handle Kagura. Naruto, I'm leaving Sasuke to you."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto told him before the ninja joined their Zoid teammates.

* * *

As soon as Kakashi landed near Fury, he realized his mistake. The crazed Zoid was moving to slash Gitai, but had to stop when Kakashi showed up in the way. This gave Gitai an opening to slam Fury in the head with an earthen fist.

"Kakashi." Fury said venomously as he stalked back towards them. "If there is a brain in your head, you will get out of the way right now!"

"Right." Kakashi responded sheepishly. "I'll just be leaving then."

The Copy-nin leaped backwards and away from the three combatants. But he wasn't getting away alone. Kusuna decided that he would have a slightly better chance of surviving against the Copy-nin than against the psycho with the drills. As soon as the two of them were gone, Fury resumed his assault.

Gitai, for his part, was trying to figure out what to do about those drills. Fire jutsu didn't even faze Fury and he drilled right through the Earth Spears. And he had no doubt that his full transformation wouldn't last very long against those drills. So, that would have to be where Gitai focused: removing the drills from the fight. As if reading Gitai's mind, Fury suddenly powered down the drills.

"Since those other two died so fast, I figure it would be more fun to fight you in a straight up brawl." Fury explained while returning his weapons to his back.

"Well then, I guess it would only be fair to kill you with my full power!" Gitai responded, returning to his normal arrogance.

Fury watched, disgusted, as Gitai removed a chakra snake from his arm and crushed it. After drinking the juice, Gitai transformed into his Asura-like state. He grew to twice his original height and gained two extra pairs of arms. Perhaps most disturbing was that he now had three faces on his head, instead of just one.

"Well, now that you've turned into a complete freak show, I want to kill you." Fury said in a calmly eerie voice.

He activated the thrusters in his boots, which lifted him about two feet off the ground. His eyes seemed to flash before he rocketed towards Gitai with his fist cocked back.

"No you don't!" Gitai roared as he slammed his six fists into the ground.

As soon as he did, large bursts of fire exploded from the ground around Fury. The Zoid had to stop his assault to dodge and was hard-pressed to avoid all of the fire.

* * *

Across the battlefield, Naruto and Sasuke were staring each other down as the other fights raged on around them.

"So, how'd you do it Sasuke?" Naruto questioned. "How did you bring back all of those corpses?"

"It was actually very simple." Sasuke answered. "Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade developed a jutsu known as **One's Own Life Reincarnation**. I believe you've seen it in action?"

Naruto froze in shock when he heard this, remembering how Lady Chiyo had used that very technique to revive Gaara after the Shukaku's extraction.

Sasuke continued after seeing Naruto's reaction, "While learning under Orochimaru, I came across a scroll he had stolen when he was experimenting with immortality. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to find a way to adapt the jutsu to extend his own life. After he came to that conclusion, he abandoned the idea. I however, realized just what could be accomplished with such a technique. My Sharingan is powerful enough to completely control someone if I want to. All I had to do was force them to use the technique on the corpses and they would restore life to the dead."

"But how did you get those bodies? I thought Gitai's was destroyed." Naruto asked.

"That took a little more work." Sasuke answered. "You see, I also picked up a jutsu from the former leader of Akatsuki: the **Shape-Shifting Technique**. With this technique, I was able to recreate that fool's body and use it for the revival."

"You've reached a new low, Sasuke." Naruto told him as he shook his head. "Disturbing the dead is a crime against nature."

"And what is nature going to do about it?" Sasuke taunted.

"She's going to kill you." Naruto replied while closing her eyes. "Because…" As he opened them again, Sasuke saw Naruto's Sage Mode for the first time.

"I'm her enforcer!"

* * *

Ignoring Gitai's taunts, Fury stood about twenty feet away and tried to come up with a strategy.

"_Alright, whenever he slams the ground, he creates those explosions._" he thought to himself. "_So at least I'll know when they're coming. What if I charge him again, but come in higher this time? Then when he…you know what, screw it. I'm just gonna kill him."_

Fury charged Gitai again, but this time, he flew at full speed. This enabled Fury to slam Gitai's face with his fist before the monstrosity could launch another fire attack. As Gitai struggled to his feet after that devastating hit, he saw that Fury was once again holding one of his drills.

"Sorry, but I got better things to do." the Zoid told him. "See ya!"

A large blue shot from the drill was the last thing Gitai saw before being obliterated.

**A/N: And thus the final battle begins! Or is it? That's for you to find out later!**

**As usual, I want to apologize for how long this took to write. Unfortunately, I was super busy (at one point I had four different essays, a couple of projects, and a lot of DeMolay events going on all at once). Fortunately, I'm a little less busy, so I can focus on fan fiction. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of the fight. I also hope that you liked how Fury was portrayed and my explanation of how all those dead people are back. I chose that particular method because I figured it would be better than another "Impure World Resurrection" thing. Seriously, why did Kishimoto have to bring back **_**everyone**_**? I mean, some of it was cool, like the Jinchuriki and the previous Seven Swordsmen. But why bring back Asuma, Haku, Zabuza and all of the Akatsuki? Sure they're great characters, but we've seen them before. Come up with new characters!**

**Anyway, the next update will be **_**Iron Shadow**_**, then back to this. I hope to have this finished early summer so I can start **_**The Strength of Outcasts**_**. I'm really looking forward to that one. So please read and review, and as always, thanks for the support!**


	22. Flower Dance

**A/N: I do not own Naruto or Zoids**

**Part 3: Endgame**

**Chapter 22 – Flower Dance – Dance of the Sunset Petals!**

As Fury tore apart the resurrected Gang of Four, Sakura and Konan engaged Kagura. At first, the disgraced ANBU kunoichi tried to use her infamous **Soulbane **Genjutsu. Unfortunately for Kagura, Konan was able to stop her using a pair of well-aimed **Paper Shuriken**. With no opportunity to use her signature technique, and with Sakura and Konan taking turns engaging her, Kagura had to resort to close combat. A furious taijutsu battle ensued and Kagura was forced into a very perilous situation.

Every time Kagura gained the upperhand against Sakura, the pink-haired girl would leap back and Konan would take her place. The two kept up this routine for several minutes before Kagura finally found the opening she was looking for.

The ex-ANBU kicked Konan in the stomach as hard as she good before leaping backwards. The advantage of the kick over any other kind of strike was that Kagura was able to form hand seals while attacking. Because of this, as she leapt backwards and Sakura moved to replace Konan, Kagura unleashed her technique.

"**Soaring Strings**!"

Sakura was caught completely off-guard as several dozen knives ripped out of the ground and surrounded her. Several gashes were opened up along her arms and legs as Sakura was sent skipping along the ground, temporarily out of the fight.

"That's one down," Kagura said with a smirk, "now for the blue-haired witch."

"Will you be alright, Sakura?" Konan questioned of her fallen partner.

"Yeah, but it'll take a little while to stop the bleeding." Sakura replied, but then her frown turned into a smirk. "You can stop holding back now."

Kagura's eyes widened as the truth struck her. This entire time, the former Akatsuki member was restraining herself in order to avoid harming her partner. But in removing Sakura from the fight, Kagura also removed the limiter from her most dangerous opponent. Unfortunately, this realization came a moment too late, for Konan had vanished in a tornado of paper.

The paper twirled and danced around Kagura, and the Genjutsu master felt a flicker of hope. This was obviously a Genjutsu, and there was no one outside of the Uchiha clan that was more adept at breaking Genjutsu than Kagura.

"**Release**!"

Nothing happened.

The flicker of hope Kagura had been harboring quickly faded.

"_How is this possible?_" she thought to herself. "_If that was a Genjutsu, then I would've broken it._"

"Having a little trouble?" Konan echoed from all around Kagura. "Doesn't seem real does it?"

"What is this?" Kagura demanded. "What is this technique?"

"This is my signature technique." the voice resounded. "**Shikigami Dance**!"

All of a sudden the tornado of paper disappeared. Kagura looked all around her, wary of what the Rain-nin might be planning. But there was nothing in sight.

"Behind you." Konan whispered.

Kagura whipped around to defend herself, but she wasn't prepared for the paper spear that was floating in front of her face.

"Farewell."

"Not quite." An unfamiliar voice spoke. "**Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu**!"

An enormous blast of fire raced across the battlefield and incinerated the paper spear. All fighting across the battlefield stopped as Team Nova looked up to the source of the attack. Standing atop a ledge on the east wall of the valley was a group of three shinobi. Two were recognizable as Tayuya of the Sound Four and Raiga Kurosuki of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. However, neither one of them launched the fireball. The jutsu came from the third, unknown member of the trio. One who was unrecognizable to almost all of Team Nova, but who was probably the most dangerous of the three. For his most defining feature was the full three-tomoed **Sharingan **spinning in each eye.

"No way." Anko said under her breath.

"Sasuke, you've reached a new low." Kakashi observed.

"Who is that?" Naruto demanded of Sasuke as the two stood across from each other with kunai and sword drawn, respectively.

"My ultimate secret weapon." Sasuke replied with a malevolent smirk. "One that no one would have ever expected. Fugaku Uchiha, my father."

* * *

Mere moments after Sasuke's revelation, Team Nova's challenge grew greatly. In addition to battling with Kusuna, Kakashi now had to deal with Raiga and his signature lightning fangs. Tayuya made König and Karin's fight a two-on-one battle. And Konan now found herself with an actual challenge as she now had to deal with Kagura and Fugaku. Fortunately however, Sakura had finished healing herself and brought Konan some reinforcements of her own.

"**Summoning Jutsu**!"

This caught Kagura off-guard because Sakura had not used a summoning in their last battle. When the smoke cleared, there was a black wolverine holding a sword in its teeth.

Konan smirked as she remembered how Sakura came in possession of such a powerful summon familiar.

* * *

_Flashback_

_ "Konan-san? I have a question." Sakura began after a training session with the former Akatsuki member._

_ "What is it, Sakura?" Konan questioned._

_ "Do you know anything about summoning creatures?"_

_ "I've never signed a contract, but I know enough about it from Master Jiraya and Nagato. Why?"_

_ "Well, a couple weeks ago when König first came to the village, she helped Naruto-kun and I catch this wolverine that was trying to steal one of the Hokage's special scrolls. A few days later, I was talking to Shizune and she told me that they hadn't figured out who sent it, but they were able to break the contract seal on it."_

_ "So you want to make it your own?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "We'll need to ask Naruto to summon Gamabunta and ask him, but I think we should be able to get a contract created."_

Shortly after the contract was created, a coincidental visit to Liger's home resulted in the the wolverine's possession of the sword.

_"Liger, what's with that sword?" Sakura asked after seeing the weapon in question in the corner._

_ "Oh that?" he said as he turned to look at the subject of the question. "I tripped over that the other day, so I brought it back here. Why?"_

_ "My wolverine summons has a symbol marked on its paw and that sword has the same symbol on its handle."_

_ "You think that he dropped it?"_

_ "It's possible."_

* * *

It turned out that the wolverine, now known to be named Tanaka, had indeed dropped the sword during its mission to steal the Hokage's scroll. After wresting control from the Red Vipers, Sakura had enlisted Tanaka's help for battle. They only had a week or so to train, but Sakura felt they were more than prepared.

"Tanaka, this is what we've been waiting for!" Sakura told her partner. "It's time to try out our attack."

"**Right!**" Tanaka agreed, though slightly muffled from the sword. The wolverine then leaped into the air, as Sakura began a series of hand seals.

"**Collaboration Jutsu: Dance of the Sunset Petals!**" she cried, before breathing a large ball of fire.

The fireball engulfed Tanaka, but did not burn him. Instead, the fire seemed to form an aura around the wolverine. He then began to spiral through the air towards Kagura.

"Flashy trick, but it won't be enough!" Kagura said with a smirk before trying to leap away.

Only she couldn't.

"What the…?"

Before she could make another attempt to escape, Tanaka was on top of her, and he drilled right through her stomach. The impact with the ground behind Kagura created a shockwave that sent Fugaku flying, only to land a short distance away.

Kagura coughed up a large amount of blood before collapsing. Sakura knelt down next to the woman as she lay dying. Kagura looked at Sakura with a combination of malice and confusion evident on her face.

"H-how?" Kagura coughed. "How w-ere you ab-ble to h-hold me?"

"Simple." Sakura responded. "While the smoke from the **Summoning** was still clouding your vision, Konan-san was able to anchor your feet to the ground with some ninja wire and a pair of kunai."

Kagura's eyes widened as she finally realized how powerful her opponents truly were.

"Gotta gi-give you credit k-kid." Kagura wheezed. "You've r-really improved. G-good job."

And with that, Kagura of the Soulbane died for the second time.

Sakura closed the woman's eyes, before standing back up to face their remaining opponent. Konan and Tanaka appeared at her sides.

"Now then," Sakura said as she drew a pair of shuriken, "time for round 2!"

**A/N: So sorry for the delay! I just started college last August (GO COLONIALS!) and it pretty much destroyed my free time. I know that's a poor excuse, but the fact remains that college is the reason I haven't updated in over 5 months. However, now that I'm into my second semester, I'll be earnestly trying to update more often. So you can expect more chapters soon.**

**Now, there's some good news and bad news.**

**The good news is that I have created (using Gimp) a poster for this fanfic. You can find it on DeviantArt by searching "Poster for The Fox and the Liger".**

**The bad news is that I've decided to cancel the plans for "The Strength of Outcasts" for now. Between college and my new job, I won't have time for a story of that magnitude. It really upsets me.**

**But, that's neither here nor there. Let me know what you think of the new chapter!**

**-Saberdragon**


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